California lawmakers are proposing legislation that aims to reestablish safeguards for the state’s streams and wetlands in response to a Supreme Court ruling limiting federal clean water regulations.

Supporters say the legislation has taken on heightened urgency as the Trump administration begins to scale back protections for many streams and wetlands, making them vulnerable to pollution and worsening water quality.

“We need clean water to drink, to grow our food, to safely bathe and swim in, to support healthy ecosystems and the environment,” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who introduced the bill. “It’s about protecting our water supply, and it’s a common-sense measure that simply restores the protections that our waterways have always enjoyed since 1948.”

Federal standards have since 1948 limited pollution discharges into waterways. Such standards later became a central part of the federal Clean Water Act, adopted in 1972.

In Sackett vs. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that Clean Water Act protections don’t apply to many wetlands and ephemeral streams, which flow when it rains but otherwise sit dry much of the time. The court ruled that the law’s protections for the “waters of the United States” apply only to wetlands and streams that are directly connected to navigable waterways.

The decision was supported by groups representing developers and the agriculture industry, who say the EPA had overstepped its authority by restricting private property owners from developing their land.

California officials and clean water advocates counter that the rollback of protections will jeopardize vital water sources and ecosystems throughout the arid West.

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