EPA’s Upcoming Rule Could Strip Protections from Most of Utah’s Waters
- isobel557
- Apr 22
- 2 min read
Vast majority of Utah’s streams and wetlands at risk under weakened Clean Water Act safeguards
A forthcoming rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) threatens to remove federal Clean Water Act protections from nearly all of Utah’s streams, wetlands, and arroyos—putting the state’s drinking water, ecosystems, and communities in jeopardy.
“Utah has invested millions in restoring watersheds to improve water quality and help more water reach the Great Salt Lake and drinking water reservoirs,” said Isobel Lingenfelter, Wildlife Connectivity Coordinator at the Utah Wildlife Federation. “It’s baffling that, at a time when drought and dust storms threaten our health and economy, the EPA is considering a rule that would make it easier to pollute or destroy the very waters we depend on.”
The proposed rule is expected to go beyond the limitations set by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision, which gutted key protections by limiting the Clean Water Act to “relatively permanent” waterways and wetlands with a continuous surface connection to them. If finalized as proposed, the EPA’s rule would exclude most of Utah’s seasonal streams and wetlands—waters that make up the bulk of the state’s freshwater ecosystems.
According to peer-reviewed research published in Science, more than 79% of the water in the Great Salt Lake Basin comes from rain-fed, seasonal streams—waters that are now at risk of losing protection. These same streams also feed drinking water reservoirs across the state. Meanwhile, 75% of the Upper Colorado River’s contribution to Lake Powell comes from similarly vulnerable tributaries.
“The Supreme Court tied EPA’s hands, but not completely,” said Lingenfelter. “The agency still has the authority—and the responsibility—to protect drinking water sources where it can. “With Lake Powell less than a third full and the Great Salt Lake disappearing before our eyes, the state will need to step up if the federal government steps back.”
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