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The Clean Water Act
In February, 1990, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of the Army presented a joint set of guidelines to be used in determining the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1).  In it, they stated:
The Clean Water Act and the Guidelines set forth a goal of restoring and maintaining existing aquatic resources. The Corps will strive to avoid adverse impacts and offset unavoidable adverse impacts to existing aquatic resources, and for wetlands, will strive to achieve a goal of no overall net loss of values and functions. In focusing the goal on no overall net loss to wetlands only, EPA and Army have explicitly recognized the special significance of the nation's wetlands resources.

These two entities continue to revise regulations governing compensatory mitigation, of such importance is the impact our wetlands, streams and other waters have on our environment.

Protecting our wetlands is not just a government issue or responsibility.  We all need to work together to protect our nation's water resources.   With the rapid expansion of construction in populated areas and the coastal populations increasing, pressures on our water resources are growing.  As well is the disruption caused to the natural inhabitants who derive their food and shelter from them.  When one part of the ecosystem is disrupted, it has an effect on every other ecosystem.

If you have land that qualifies as a "wetland," we would like to encourage you to look into protecting that land for the benefit of our environment and future generations.

The 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (known as the Clean Water Act or CWA) provide the statutory basis for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program and the basic structure for regulating the discharge of pollutants from point sources to waters of the United States. Section 402 of the CWA specifically required EPA to develop and implement the NPDES program.


The CWA gives EPA the authority to set effluent limits on an industry-wide (technology-based) basis and on a water-quality basis that ensure protection of the receiving water. The CWA requires anyone who wants to discharge pollutants to first obtain an NPDES permit, or else that discharge will be considered illegal.


The CWA allowed EPA to authorize the NPDES Permit Program to state governments, enabling states to perform many of the permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the NPDES Program. In states that have been authorized to implement CWA programs, EPA still retains oversight responsibilities.


- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency