WOTUS Rewrite After Sackett

The map of federal water power is being redrawn

In American agriculture, few regulatory acronyms carry more weight than WOTUS.

Three letters.

But behind them lies one of the most consequential questions in land use:

Which water features fall under federal authority?

That question determines whether a farmer digging a drainage ditch, clearing a field edge, or building a stock pond must first navigate federal permitting.

Now, following the landmark decision in the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case, the federal government is rewriting the rules.

And the outcome will shape how millions of acres of farmland are governed.