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Non‐navigable streams and adjacent wetlands: addressing science needs following the Supreme Court's Rapanos decision
Author(s) -
Leibowitz Scott G,
Wigington Parker J,
Rains Mark C,
Downing Donna M
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/070068
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , jurisdiction , clean water act , legislation , wetland , streams , supreme court , environmental resource management , environmental science , metric (unit) , environmental planning , law , business , hydrology (agriculture) , computer science , ecology , political science , engineering , water quality , biology , geotechnical engineering , marketing , embedded system , computer network
In June of 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled in two cases concerning jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The decisions suggest that hydrological permanence of non‐navigable streams and adjacent wetlands (NNSAWs) and their effects on the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of navigable waters (“significant nexus”) are relevant in determining CWA jurisdiction. This has increased the need for scientific information to support regulatory determinations and to inform future policies, rule making, and legislation. Here, we propose an approach for addressing these science needs. We define a metric – maximum duration of continuous flow – to assess hydrological permanence. We also define two metrics to evaluate significant nexus: proportion of total benefit to the navigable water contributed by an NNSAW class, and proportion of time that a navigable water receives benefit from an NNSAW. These metrics could be useful in implementing the Court's new legal standards.