A federal appeals court has upheld a cornerstone protection for Western agriculture, ruling that irrigation return flows remain exempt from federal Clean Water Act (CWA) permits so long as they don’t include additional point-source discharges unrelated to crop production. The decision preserves decades of practice for farms and water districts while clarifying where the exemption begins and ends.
Ninth Circuit reaffirms Clean Water Act carve-out for irrigated agriculture — and why it matters on the ground
Ninth Circuit preserves irrigation-return-flow exemption
