Excerpt
NOT long ago, most people viewed the construction of agricultural drainage ditches as a good thing. Ditches meant fewer mosquito-infested swamps, more land for farming, and other intangible benefits to private property owners and society. But times have changed. To many people, increased drainage now means reduced wetland acreage in an age when “no net loss” of wetlands is the goal. “No new construction” of dainage ditches seems to be the prevailing policy.
Law, policy, and public opinion are much less clear, however, when the question becomes one of maintenance rather than construction. Should a farmer who wants to repair a previously constructed drainage ditch be exempt from stringent permitting requirements? How should society reunite the sometimes conflicting needs of agricultural production, protection of private property rights, and conservation of wetlands?
Section 404(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, addresses some of these difficult questions. By providing a limited exception from the normal individual permit requirement, clauses (f)(l)(C) and (Q(2) 404 attempt to …
Footnotes
Benjamin H. Grumbles is assistant minority counsel for the Water Resources Subcommittee of the Public Works and Transportation Committee, US. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. Opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect any opinions of the Public Works mid Transportation Committee or its members.
- Copyright 1991 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.