New Rule Defines Waters of the United States (WOTUS)

Dr. Sue Colvin Assistant Professor of Sustainable Fisheries at Unity College interviews collaborators Drue Banta Winters, Policy Director for the American Fisheries Society and Dr. Mažeika Sullivan, Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at the Ohio State University, about the recently published Navigable Waters Protection Rule that defines “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) also more commonly referred to as the WOTUS rule. 

Sue, Drue, and Mažeika discuss what the WOTUS rule is and how it was developed, what was formerly protected under the Obama era rule and what water bodies and ecosystem services have lost federal protection under the new rule. They also discuss whether state level protections are sufficient and whether science backs the new rule (it doesn't). Listen to the end to find out what Drue and Mažeika's favorite fishes are!

Additional resources to webinars, congressional briefings, video recaps to published papers, and more:

https://fisheries.org/policy-media/wotus/

https://freshwater-science.org/wotus