Arizona has a unique relationship with water and a proposed rule by the Environmental Protection Agency could further complicate it.It was only two years ago the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of which waters would receive federal protection.Elise Ketcham, communications director for the Arizona Wildlife Federation, explained the court determined only wetlands physically connected to other federally-recognized waters would qualify. Now in an effort to remove what he calls “unfair burdens” on farmers and landowners, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said he is looking to roll back further protections. Ketcham argued the proposal would not only jeopardize the state’s water quality but disproportionately impact the state’s ephemeral streams.”In Arizona, in state law, we do have protections in place for intermittent, but ephemeral streams we don’t,” Ketcham explained. “There is that danger if we’ve lost federal protections for those types of water streams. In Arizona, now we have no federal, no state protections for ephemeral.”Ketcham stressed it is a big deal because most of Arizona’s streams are ephemeral, meaning they only run after rainfall or snowmelt. While the state does have its own set of water policy, she contended federal regulation serves as …
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