The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updated definitions for what constitutes Waters of the United States (WOTUS) on November 17th, 2025. Updated language reduces the scope of federal jurisdiction over Clean Water Act permitting by defining terms like “relatively permanent,” “continuous surface connection,” and “tributary” to reduce protections for seasonal or intermittent waterways.
From the EPA’s press release:
“The agency’s proposed definition of WOTUS would fully implement the [Supreme] court’s direction [from Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency] by focusing on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water—such as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes—and wetlands that are connected and indistinguishable from such waterbodies. It will accelerate economic prosperity by revising, for example, exclusions for certain ditches, prior converted cropland, and waste treatment systems and by adding an exclusion for groundwater. The proposal also takes into account seasonal and geographic variability by including waters that flow uninterrupted throughout the wetter months in the proposed definition of “relatively permanent” waters, based on pre-proposal feedback.”
The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register, which will start a 45-day public comment period. EPA and the Army will host two hybrid public meetings. Details about commenting either in writing or during a public meeting can be found on EPA’s website by clicking here.
Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® has grave concerns about the proposed lack of groundwater protections and will be developing comments to share with our supporters soon.