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The simple addition of one word, “all,” and the deletion of two words-navigable waters, in the Clean Water Act could carry serious implications for farmers, ranchers and homeowners in Blanco County, according to Blanco County Farm Bureau Sec./Treasurer Adrian Schulze.

“H.R. 2421, currently under consideration in the U.S. House, would enable federal agencies to dole out permits for routine actions by farmers, ranchers and ordinary homeowners because it would expand federal regulation to ‘all’ waters,” Schulze said. “Just think about that word, ‘all,’ for a moment. ‘All’ means absolutely everything.”

H.R. 2421, more commonly known as the Clean Water Restoration Act, would also delete “navigable waters” from the existing Clean Water Act, Schulze said.

“All waters and waterways would be subject to federal regulation and oversight, no matter how small or insignificant those waters may appear when looking at them or even stepping over them,” Schulze said.

Farmers and ranchers are especially concerned about the combination of these edits to a law that has already proved its effectiveness. With these changes, ordinary roadside ditches, stock tanks and ponds would be subject to extensive regulation and permitting. Even low spots in fields farmed for decades would be subject to extensive reviews.

“55 million acres of dry, productive, prior converted cropland would be affected by this additional, unnecessary regulation,” Schulze said. “And there is nothing in H.R. 2421 to protect homeowners from extensive regulations either. H.R. 2421 is overkill.”

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Schulze said the Clean Water Act is working well as it is. Millions of acres of wetlands are currently protected, and farmers and ranchers are hard at work to ensure natural resources are around for future generations to enjoy. In fact, plans to restore, improve and protect 3 million acres of wetlands by 2009 are well ahead of schedule, with nearly 2.8 million acres of wetlands restored since the initiative was formed in 2004, Schulze said.