The Environmental Protection Agency calls wetlands “biological supermarkets” because of the enormous abundance of food they provide for a wide range of species. Approximately 40 percent of all plants and animals depend on wetlands for some part of their life cycle. These ecosystems also filter drinking water, reduce the severity of floods, and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide—functions that make them critical in efforts to combat climate change. But the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are now trying to scale back federal protections for the nation's wetlands and rivers, potentially leaving millions of acres of habitat in Illinois and the Midwest vulnerable to dredging, filling or paving over.
At the heart of the proposal, announced last week, is a new, stricter definition of the long-debated legal term “Water of the United States” – the federal guidelines that determine which water bodies are protected by the 1972 Clean Water Act. This sentence codifies Supreme Court decision 2023 it limits federal protection to wetlands that are so integral to larger, relatively permanent bodies of water such as streams, rivers and lakes that it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. Under the proposed rule, wetlands must contain water during the “wet season” and must be connected to a major body of water during that season. Essentially, the new definition excludes seasonal streams and wetlands that remain dry for most of the year.
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“We're seeing up to 85 percent of the nation's wetlands lose their protected status under the Clean Water Act,” said Andrew Wetzler, Natural Resources Defense Council senior vice president for nature affairs.
A 2025 analysis by a nonprofit environmental group found that approximately 70 million of the 84 million acres of wetlands nationwide are at risk. Under current regulations, developers must obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before destroying wetlands to ensure environmentally responsible practices. The new rules will eliminate the need for a federal permit to build on wetlands, allowing developers to proceed with minimal environmental oversight, Wetzler said.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin defended the move in a statement, arguing that it “protects the nation's navigable waters from pollution, promotes cooperative federalism by empowering states, and will lead to economic growth across the country.” Agricultural, chemical and mining industry groups also applauded the Environmental Protection Agency's move to limit federal water protections.
“Several years ago, the Supreme Court clearly ruled that the government had gone overboard in its interpretation of what falls under federal regulations,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement. “We are still reviewing this rule, but we are pleased that it finally addresses these concerns and takes steps to provide much-needed clarity.”
When Europeans settled the area in the 1700s, Illinois had more than 8 million acres of wetlands. Since then, the state has lost about 90 percent of this area to agriculture, development and urbanization. Illinois wetlands alone provide $419 million worth of residential flood protection each year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Since the Supreme Court decision stripped federal protections of wetlands, states like Colorado have passed their own laws to protect endangered ecosystems. Illinois lawmakers have tried to introduce a similar law, but so far have had no success.
“The vast majority of Illinois wetlands are not federally protected,” said Robert Hirschfeld, director of water policy for Prairie Rivers Network. “The loss of the federal Clean Water Act means it’s open season on wetlands.”
A recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study found that reducing wetland protections could threaten the vast majority of the state's dwindling wetlands.
“We determined that about 72 percent of Illinois wetlands, representing about 700,000 acres, no longer meet criteria for continuous surface connection to relatively permanent waters in Illinois,” said Chelsea Peters, a PhD candidate in wetland ecology at the University of Illinois and lead author of the study. “Therefore, they are not protected by the Clean Water Act.”
That figure could rise depending on how humidity requirements are determined by regulators. “The next best estimate is 90 percent,” she said.
The proposal still has a long way to go before it is finalized. The Environmental Protection Agency has opened a 45-day comment period for the public to weigh in on the proposed changes. The Environmental Protection Agency will review these public comments before finalizing rule changes as early as the first quarter of next year.
Editor's note: The Natural Resources Defense Council is a Grist advertiser. Advertisers have no role in Grist's editorial decisions.
