Publication: LAist

UCLA Expert: Noah Garrison: Environmental Science Practicum Director and Director of Undergraduate Initiatives, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Synopsis: Bodies of water across the United States are significantly more vulnerable to being destroyed following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that greatly narrowed the reach of the decades-old Clean Water Act. One of the most impactful parts of the decision was to get rid of protections for wetlands that don’t have a “continuous surface connection” to larger bodies of water. 

UCLA News: “Here in California we’re in pretty good shape thanks to a spread of state laws that will offer protections for wetlands,” Garrison said. However, the federal regulation leaves questions about what’ll happen to wetlands elsewhere, including in the states that our water flows through, like Colorado and Arizona.“Effectively you are now allowing pollution into source waters that feed into larger water bodies that we use for drinking water or water supply or agriculture.”

Read more at LAist.