LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Supreme Court ruling weakens Clean Water Act protections

To the editor:

In the recent Sackett v. EPA decision, by a 5-to-4 vote the U.S. Supreme Court weakened protection of U.S. waters under the 1972 Clean Water Act.

The crux of this ruling is restricting CWA authority over wetlands to only those that are continuously connected to waterbodies — such as lakes, oceans, and rivers — by surface waters. But since there are countless interconnections between wetlands and waterbodies that are intermittent, such as during periodic rainstorms and tidal movement, experts estimate that this decision will eliminate CWA protections over millions of acres of wetlands.

When filled and developed, wetlands are often contaminated and can damage water bodies as drainage carries pollution down-slope, no matter how intermittent that runoff flow may be.

With all the industrial, commercial, and residential development ongoing throughout Georgia, this legal decision will increase hazards to our natural resources and public health, caused by polluted stormwater runoff generated by widespread landscape disruption. Such pollution will also threaten coastal Georgia’s fisheries habitat, located downstream in the vast watersheds of major rivers, where contaminants can dangerously accumulate.

Moreover, these added risks will occur during a time when climate change is increasing the intensity of major storms, which will worsen the pollution risks of stormwater runoff. Also troubling are increased flooding hazards caused by weakened wetlands protection. Due to the limited water-storing capacity of wetlands, already compromised by rising sea-level, the safeguard reductions caused by this ruling will cause increased flooding in surrounding upland areas as more wetlands are filled.

David Kyler

St. Simons Island

David Kyler is the co-founder and director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast, established in 1997 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting responsible decisions that sustain coastal Georgia’s environment and quality of life.