President Trump has recently proposed stripping federal protections such as the Clean Water Act of 1972 and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley shared his perspective. 

The administration proposed a new definition for what counts as a “water of the United States” and is therefore subject to federal pollution regulations under the Clean Water Act. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. 

The proposal, named the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, says wetlands and streams that are seasonal or flow inconsistently would no longer be protected under the Clean Water Act.

KCII spoke with Grassley for this thoughts on the proposal, given the recent reports on Iowa’s water quality, “That decision that the President made has nothing to do with cleaning up the water. It’s a government regulation of land. It’s called Waters of the United States. There’s been a court decision by the Supreme Court now a couple of years ago, that said that waters of the U.S. was contrary to the constitution, and all the president is doing is abiding by the Supreme Court decision. But it has nothing to do with clean water.” When asked what efforts he thinks the government should take to address Iowa’s water quality issue, Grassley stated, “If Iowa isn’t doing what the federal government thinks that they should be doing the EPA can step in and take over the Iowa program. And until the EPA does that, I have to assume that Iowa is doing what is necessary to clean up the water.”  

According to the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy the ecological functions of wetlands include flood abatement and attenuation, water purification, ground water recharge, and provisioning of habitat for a rich diversity of plants and animals. Iowa’s water quality report found that central Iowa waterways have reached nitrate pollution levels that rank among the highest nationwide.

https://www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu/documents