YUGE: Trump administration’s Waters of the United States rule gives power back to states.

At issue is the extent of the federal government’s control over our nation’s waters. Under the Clean Water Act, the federal government has jurisdiction over navigable waters — defined as the “waters of the United States.” Federal regulators and the courts have broadened this definition over time, moving from waters a vessel can navigate to ponds and wetlands as well. The definition may seem like a trivial technicality, but it has enormous consequences for land use decisions nationwide.

In 2015, the Obama EPA put forward a definition that further expanded Washington’s reach into privately owned lands. They claimed it was in the interest of water quality. But it was really about power — power in the hands of the federal government over states and landowners. The Missouri Farm Bureau, for example, estimates that bodies of water — from streams to ephemeral drainage ditches — in over 95 percent of the state’s land area could come under the purview of the federal government. The rule was issued in spite of the fact that Missouri, and most other states, already have their own protections for waters within their borders, regardless of whether they are federally regulated as waters of the United States.

More like this, please.