YEAREND: New year, new proposed WOTUS definition
For farmers, the changing definitions of “wetlands” have made understanding use of their properties difficult. The new definition should bring some clarity. — Brigit Rollins
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Dec. 20, 2025
Fast facts
- Comment period for proposed definition ends Jan. 5, 2026
- See Rollins’ deep dive online
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have submitted a proposed new definition of waters of the United States, or WOTUS, but the situation is very fluid, said Brigit Rollins of the National Agricultural Law Center.
WOTUS has been the very core of the federal Clean Water Act since it was enacted more than 50 years ago to limit the amount of pollution discharged into waters and wetlands. However, the WOTUS definition seen its share of litigation and attendant changes in the past half century.
The latest proposed definition was published in the Federal Register on Nov. 20, with a public comment period that would end Jan. 5. As of Dec. 18, the proposal has received nearly 12,000 comments.
Some aspects of WOTUS have been heavily litigated, Rollis said. This includes the definitions of “navigable waters” and what “wetlands” and “adjacent” really mean in the phase “wetlands adjacent to any WOTUS.” Discharging pollutants into a navigable water requires a permit, and the definitions are necessary for understanding which waters would require a permit.
For farmers, the changing definitions of “wetlands” have made understanding use of their properties difficult. The new definition should bring some clarity, Rollins said.
“The biggest, most impactful thing for agriculture is that this wetlands definition this pretty clearly would say that a wetland is only a WOTUS if it is connected to a water that is itself a WOTUS via a direct surface water connection,” she said.
Regardless of the legal and policy trends of the moment, Rollins said there’s a very basic reason defining WOTUS is so difficult.
“It’s worth highlighting that when we're talking about WOTUS, we're talking about the definition of waters of the United states for a continent that has more ecosystems than you can shake a stick at,” she said.
See Rollins’ deep dive on the issue at the National Agricultural Law Center site.
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Media contact: Nick Kordsmeier, nkordsme@uada.edu