Modeling Tool Could Aid Quest For Data On Scope Of Narrower CWA Rule

摘要

A new water modeling tool could aid states and others in the quest to quantify the number of waterbodies that would be subject to EPA's proposed narrower Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, a goal that the agency has downplayed as impractical or even impossible to quantify given its tight timeline for finalizing the more-limited rule. Andrew Robertson, director of the GeoSpatial Services office at St. Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUM), spoke on a recent Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) webinar to highlight his team's new "Model Builder" project that aims to model which waterbodies in a region would be considered "waters of the United States" by federal regulators.