(Spirit Lake)– Dickinson County Supervisors Tuesday heard an update from John Torbert of the Iowa Drainage District Association. Torbert talked about an upcoming ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on what’s known as the “Waters of the US”, or WOTUS, and the impact it could have on drainage districts and those who oversee them. He says it’s mainly centered around one rule in particular…
“My understanding reading the new rule was that everything, almost every determination is going to be case by case. That’s not the way to do business. For every time you go in to do drainage work, you have to get an opinion instead of having clear federal policy that says you do this you’re going to have to get a clean water permit, you do this you don’t have to get a clean water permit. Instead every time having to go ask a question, get different answers from different bureaucrats and different regulators, different interpretations from the regional offices in terms of how to interpret the rule. That’s not a way to do business.”
Torbert says the ruling will also determine what authority, if any, the Environmental Protection Agency has over regulating drainage. Torbert says a ruling could be coming between now and July.
