Four Takeaways From the Supreme Court’s Clean Water Act Ruling

In 1972 the Clean Water Act gave the US government control over navigable “waters of the United States,” including rivers and lakes. Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, which administer the landmark law, have often (but not always) construed this definition to include wetlands.

After all, wetlands are hydrologically connected to larger bodies of water, even if only for part of the year, or if the connection is underground and can’t be seen. Moreover, wetlands play a critical role in filtering pollutants for drinking water and offer important wildlife habitat.

Then came the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection ...