Action Alert

The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Clean Water 

Disguised as a means to “clarify the definition of ‘waters of the United States’ (WOTUS) and fully implement the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, last month the Trump administration announced a proposed rule that would largely gut the Clean Water Act (CWA). 

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve ~ NPS Photo Archives

The WOTUS Rule determines which waters – e.g., rivers, streams, and wetlands – are subject to CWA protections. Over the past decade or so however, a series of republican administrations' primary tool for dismantling the Act has been to drastically limit the scope of WOTUS.

In addition, Although Congress defined "navigable waters" under the Act broadly to simply mean "Waters of the United States,"  starting in 2001, a succession of U.S. Supreme Court opinions concluded that Congress' use of the "navigable waters," language somehow indicated an intent to restrict protections to only those waterways (including wetlands related to such waters) that have been traditionally navigable and ignored its previous determination that these terms were not that relevant to which waters were covered by the Act. 

Then, in 2023 the Court “in Sackett v. EPA fundamentally changed the interpretation of what WOTUS are, by effectively removing the scientific analysis and concluded these are only “relatively permanent” waters, and that wetlands are only protected where they have “continuous surface connection” to, or abut, other WOTUS.

With 174 million acres of wetlands, more than three million lakes, and more coastland than the lower 48 combined, no other state has more to lose from weakening the definition of what can be covered by the Clean Water Act. In addition, according to the Native American Rights Fund the:

…proposed rule matters to Tribal Nations for at least a few reasons. First, it reduces previously protected waters that may flow or influence waters that flow onto Tribal lands, potentially impacting water quality on Tribal waters and lands. Second, the proposed rule could remove water quality protections on off-reservation or Treaty-protected waterbodies where Tribal fisheries or harvesting occur. Finally, many wetlands in Alaska may not be protected by the rule and make it easier for development through mining or other land-use changes to occur.[1]

In fact, following the decision in Sackett, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended the 2023 rule to remove the existing “significant nexus” standard and drastically limit the CWA’s application to wetlands and ephemeral streams. This is threatening a way of life for tribes located in the Imuruk Basin of Northwestern Alaska, where the Corps is proposing that out of almost 6,000 acres of wetlands, rivers and streams that will be impacted by the Mine, a little over 2 acres of those are WOTUS thereby, excluding virtually all of the impacted waters from environmental analysis under the permitting processes.   

Glacier Canyon Creek at the base of the Kigluaik Mountain Range

~ Photo by Hal Shepherd

Although the Trump Administration announcement for yet another rewrite of the Rule claims to be implementing the decision in Sackett, in reality, the proposed Rule would restriction the Act even further and would eliminate protection for the vast majority of wetlands throughout the Western U.S. and Alaska by excluding any wetland that does not have a continuous, visible surface connection to a navigable water.

Help us stop Trump’s latest attack on clean water and protection of Alaska’s vast wetlands, rivers, and streams.

Provide Comments on the Proposed WOTUS Rule:

Public comments can be submitted on the proposed rule via Regulations.gov to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0322. The 45-day comment period closes on January 5, 2026.

[1] Daniel Cordalis, EPA and Army Corps Propose Revised Waters of the United States Rule, Narrowing the Reach of the Clean Water Act, Comments Requested (due Jan. 5, 2026), (December 1, 2025).