WHY THE CLEAN WATER RULE IS IMPORTANT 

Clean water is vital to our health, communities, and economy. Our communities are impacted by what 

happens upstream. The water flowing from streams and wetlands ends up in the rivers, lakes, and bays 

by our homes. Streams and wetlands provide many benefits to communities by trapping floodwaters, 

recharging groundwater supplies, filtering pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. We all 

live downstream and need the water to be clean. 

People depend on clean water for their health: About 117 million Americans – one in three people – get 

drinking water from small streams that need protection from pollution under the Clean Water Rule. Our 

cherished way of life depends on clean water: healthy ecosystems provide wildlife habitat and places to 

fish, paddle, surf, and swim. Our economy depends on clean water: manufacturing, farming, tourism, 

recreation, energy production and other economic sectors need clean water to function and flourish.

Counties, cities and townships need the clarity of knowing which waters are protected to administer 

their clean water programs and to build and maintain their infrastructure, like roads and ditches, water 

treatment facilities, and stormwater systems. Local governments are the largest providers of clean 

water in the U.S., and the Clean Water Rule will make this job easier.

WHAT IS THE CLEAN WATER RULE

Protection for about 60 percent of the nation’s streams and 

millions of acres of wetlands has been confusing and complex

since Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006. The Clean Water 

Rule protects the streams and wetlands that are scientifically 

shown to have the greatest impact on downstream water quality 

and form the foundation of our nation’s water resources. EPA and 

the U.S. Army are ensuring that waters protected under the Clean 

Water Act are more precisely defined, predictably determined,

easier to understand, and consistent with the law and the latest 

science. The Clean Water Rule will provide greater clarity and 

certainty to local governments. The rule does not create any new 

permitting requirements, and reduces economic burdens on communities by simplifying and speeding 

up the process of determining if a water is protected. The rule does not protect any types of waters that 

have not historically been covered by the Clean Water Act. It also does not interfere with or change

private property rights, or address land use.

INPUT SHAPED THE RULE

EPA and the Army have met with and listened carefully to input from hundreds of local officials and 

worked closely with key intergovernmental associations to understand local issues. Administrator 

McCarthy asked EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee to host a series of meetings with local 

officials around the country and report to her on findings and recommendations. The agencies reviewed 

over one million public comments and studied perspectives from all sides. The final rule carefully 

considers all of this input and addresses the critical issues raised by local officials. 

The Clean Water Act 

protects the nation’s 

waters. A Clean Water 

Act permit is only 

needed if these waters

are going to be polluted 

or destroyed.

www.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule Clear Protection for Clean Water
THE RULE DOES

The Clean Water Rule maintains the current status of municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s)

and encourages the use of green infrastructure to protect water quality. Existing jurisdictional

determinations and permits continue to be valid until they expire. It promotes more consistent and

effective implementation of Clean Water Act regulatory programs and sets the stage for permit

streamlining during implementation. The Clean Water Rule also preserves agricultural exemptions from

dredged or fill permitting requirements. Specifically, the Clean Water Rule:

• Clearly defines and protects tributaries that impact the health of downstream waters. The 

Clean Water Act protects navigable waterways and their tributaries. The rule says that a 

tributary must show physical features of flowing water – a bed, bank, and ordinary high water 

mark – to warrant protection. The rule provides protection for headwaters that have these 

features and science shows can have a significant connection to downstream waters.

• Provides certainty in how far safeguards extend to nearby waters. The rule protects waters 

that are next to rivers and lakes and their tributaries because science shows that they impact 

downstream waters. The rule sets boundaries on covering nearby waters for the first time that 

are physical and measurable.

• Protects the nation’s regional water treasures. Science shows that specific water features can 

function like a system and impact the health of downstream waters. The rule protects prairie 

potholes, Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, western vernal pools in California, and Texas 

coastal prairie wetlands when they impact downstream waters.

• Focuses on streams, not ditches. The rule limits protection to ditches that are constructed out 

of streams or function like streams and can carry pollution downstream. So ditches that are not 

constructed in streams and that flow only when it rains are not covered.

• Maintains the status of waters within Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems. The rule does 

not change how those waters are treated and encourages the use of green infrastructure.

• Reduces the use of case-specific analysis of waters. Previously, almost any water could be put 

through a lengthy case-specific analysis, even if it would not be subject to the Clean Water Act. 

The rule significantly limits the use of case-specific analysis by creating clarity and certainty on 

protected waters and limiting the number of similarly situated water features. 

THE RULE DOES NOT

• Protect any new types of waters that have not been historically been covered.

• Interfere with or change private property rights, or address land use.

• Regulate most ditches.

• Regulate groundwater or shallow subsurface flows.

• Change policy on irrigation or water transfers.

• Address issues associated with permit streamlining. While permit streamlining is outside the

scope of this jurisdictional rule, this final rule will help localities know if a water is “in” or “out.”

FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE

Science shows us the most important waters to protect. In developing the Clean Water Rule, the

Agencies utilized the latest science, including a report summarizing more than 1,200 peer-reviewed,

published scientific studies which showed that small streams and wetlands play an important role in the

health of larger downstream waterways like rivers and lakes.

MORE INFORMATION: WWW.EPA.GOV/CLEANWATERRULE & WWW.ARMY.MIL/ASACW

www.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule Clear Protection for Clean Water