I suspect many of our readers would agree that the Obama EPA's extension of federal authority from navigable waters to every rural mudpuddle was overreach.
For three personal examples, that extension made if practically impossible to legally ditch our driveway because two seasonal trickles (albeit, already with small culverts) intersected it. Second, it made it practically impossible for us to replace a 200 year-old bridge over our stream, after Irene washed it out. Third, it made it illegal to dredge out a small old cow pond which, over time, had filled with sediment and become a "seasonal wetland" filled with grass.
As a conservationist, it saddened me to see the gradual loss of that pond along with the loss of our Painted Turtles, the shore and swamp birds, the frogs and salamanders, etc. But to dredge it legally (and I do not do illegal), we needed an environmental lawyer, an engineer consultant, etc. to begin a multi-year process to apply to the Army Corps of Engineers, the state EPA, and the federal EPA. Give me a break. It was a darn (50X60' roughly) farm pond, only 5'-6' deep in the middle at first.
But, oh dear: The EPA's roll back of the Clean Water Act could impact drinking water for millions of Americans
Really?
