By JACK SPAULDING
Spaulding Outdoors 

In early June, I noticed all along the corridor of the newly designated construction route of Interstate 69 there were signs – lots of signs. Through the area north of Bloomington and on through the Martinsville area were literally hundreds of signs posted in the construction area at every river, stream, ditch, wetland and even farmland grass-covered drainage areas.

The signs simply stated: "Waters of the U.S."

I thought it odd to see the expense gone to proclaim all of the waterways to be "property of the U.S." This is Indiana, not an area bordering another country – why would there be a need to blatantly proclaim this message to the general public traveling the newly emerging section of I-69?

In a partial answer to my question, a friend forwarded me an article from The Washington Times. It was written in late May by Joseph Curl and revealed a bold step being made by our federal government.

The administration in Washington, D.C., has moved to nationalize all the waters of the country and place them under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The seizure of riparian rights from the states comes under the authorization through the Clean Waters Act. The federal officials are saying it is being done to try to help businesses comply with regulations.

EPA chief Gina McCarthy was reported by The Times as having said, "We are finalizing a clean water rule to protect the streams and wetlands that one in three Americans rely on for drinking water. And, we are doing that without creating any new permitting requirements and maintaining all previous exemptions and exclusions."

No new regulations? What about the signs? And, last I checked, we have a Department of Natural Resources and an Indiana EPA watching over the waters of the state of Indiana.

I made a few calls to my contacts in Indiana government to see who is still in charge of "the waters of Indiana." Seems our governor and attorney general are well aware of the problem and are taking legal action to reverse it.

Gov. Mike Pence on July 7 offered the following statement regarding Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s decision to enter Indiana into a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s final rule:

"I am pleased that Indiana will join more than two dozen other states that are challenging the final ‘Waters of the United States’ rule. Once again, the Environmental Protection Agency has stretched beyond its authority under federal law, and they must be held accountable. They cannot be allowed to continue to expand federal authority over more aspects of Hoosiers’ lives."

The struggle for federal control of states’ waters has been an ongoing situation. In November 2014, Pence and Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, as well as the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, sent letters to the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging them to withdraw the proposed rule that redefines "Waters of the U.S." protected under the Clean Water Act.

In their letter to the EPA, Pence and Ellspermann wrote: "We write to share our deep concerns about the proposed rule defining the scope of ‘Waters of the United States’ protected under the Clean Water Act that was released on March 25, 2014, by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We urge the agencies to withdraw the proposed rule and re-engage stakeholders to craft a set of rules that creates clarity, not confusion …

"Our agriculture industry is particularly concerned that the proposed rule expands federal jurisdiction over wet features, rendering normal farming practices like fence construction and drainage maintenance subject to federal permitting requirements. We cannot stand idly by and allow this result.

"Indiana’s agriculture industry is working hard to help feed the world, with 83 percent of land devoted to farms and forests and ranking eighth nationally in agriculture exports. Yet, agriculture finds its efforts thwarted by increasing federal regulation. Recent examples include changes to child labor laws and dust mitigation …

"Similarly, Indiana’s energy industry finds itself under siege from a barrage of federal regulations. Indiana is the top manufacturing state in the country by percentage of state gross domestic product, and we need a strong energy industry to provide affordable, reliable power for our economy.

"Their work is made more difficult by ever expanding, new and proposed federal regulations, including regulations on mercury and air toxin emissions, coal ash disposal, cooling water intake and limitations on carbon dioxide emissions at new and existing power plants."

It doesn’t take long to see the possible unintended consequences of federally controlled water, and it raises a lot of unanswered questions. Who would have jurisdiction over the fish swimming in federal waters? If it is federal water, the fish would be federal fish. Would an individual need a state fishing license to fish in federal waters?

In declaring water the property of the United States, would the reassignment of ownership someday make water a taxable commodity? Would special accommodations be made to Western states in need of water, like the construction of massive pipelines from the Great Lakes to the waterless areas of the West?

One thing is very clear: The thing we need most is less federal government overreach and encroachment muddying up our waters.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments may contact Jack Spaulding by email at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.