The public can now comment on a decision by the Trump administration to repeal a rule that would protect 60 percent of stream miles in American. In June, the Environmental Protection Agency
announced that it would begin the process of repealing the 2015 Clean Water Rule
that protects headwater streams and water sources, however, the opening of the 30-day comment period was delayed until today. As anglers, conservationists, irrigators, recreationalists, and, well, water drinkers, we need to defend the Clean Water Rule against repeal because it:
- Protects from pollution the cold, clean headwaters the account for roughly 50 percent of Montana's trout streams.
- Includes exemptions to ensure that farmers and ranchers are not penalized for the water use that keeps them in business.
- Safeguards the drinking water sources of one in three Americans.
- Underpins the $7.1 billion outdoor recreation economy in Montana that generates 71,000 jobs and $286 million in state and local taxes. Ten million people visit Montana every year, in large degree, because of the state's unparalleled natural amenities, especially cold, clean trout streams.
Without the Clean Water Rule everyone who cares and consumes clean water loses, except the industries that its repeal will allow to pollute our headwaters without regulation or penalty. We've had enough of that in Montana.
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