California Water Board Faces Lawsuit Over New Wetlands Rules

With the Trump administration trudging ahead and re-writing another Obama era environmental law, wary California regulators last month approved new protections for wetlands in the Golden State. The decision by the State Water Resources Control Board came after 11 years of debate between the board, cities, farmers and environmentalists over how to best define and protect the state’s nearly vanished wetlands streams from being paved into extinction. Supporters said the move was a major step toward shielding California streams from Trump’s weakened Clean Water Act. Opponents argued that the rules will create new regulatory hurdles for farmers and businesses.