A rule finalized Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides streams and wetlands protection from pollution and degradation, bringing clarity to what had been a murky portion of the Clean Water Act.

The agencies say the rule makes clear that federal protections extend up from rivers, into their tributaries and headwaters.

“For the water in the rivers and lakes in our communities that flow to our drinking water to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them need to be clean too,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Wednesday in a press release. “Protecting our water sources is a critical component of adapting to climate change impacts like drought, sea level rise, stronger storms, and warmer temperatures — which is why EPA and the Army have finalized the Clean Water Rule to protect these important waters, so we can strengthen our economy and provide certainty to American businesses.”

The finalized rule comes in response to queries over the past decade from federal lawmakers, local and state officials, environmental groups, scientists and the public, according to the EPA. U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 had left questions about protection for streams and wetlands.

Last March, the EPA announced plans to detail which streams and wetlands were included as public waters protected under the Clean Water Act. The 1972 act established permitting and regulation for public waters. It also set civil and criminal penalties for polluters.

The new rule does not expand the scope of what waters are protected by the act; rather it better explains which waters are protected, said Yvonne Vallette, aquatic ecologist for the EPA in Portland.

“The problem we had until this rule came out — there was not a clear definition as to what types of streams were subject to protection or not,” she said.

A tributary must have features of flowing water — a bed, bank and ordinary high-water mark — to garner protection, although it does not need to have water in it year-round, according to the EPA. Most ditches used in agriculture do not fall under the definition of a stream.

Under the rule, anyone looking to physically change a stream or wetland must first obtain a federal permit, Vallette said. Changes include dredging or filling, building a road crossing and constructing a dam.

The rule makes it clear that thousands of miles of streams and wetlands, including tributaries to major rivers, are under federal protection, said Rikki Seguin, director of Environment Oregon, a Portland-based environmental group. Given drought conditions around much of Oregon, she said people need to do everything they can to “protect the water we have.”

The finalized rule will help, she said.

“We are talking about some pretty critical water here,” Seguin said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7812,

ddarling@bendbulletin.com