"Trump’s ‘Puddle And Ditch’ Order Will Have Destructive Ripple Effect"

"As President Donald Trump signed one of his first executive orders, he was surrounded by smiling, clapping homebuilders, farmers and other supporters eager to see the new president rein in a 45-year-old law protecting the nation’s waterways.

The Environmental Protection Agency has “truly run amok” by saving “nearly every puddle or every ditch on a farmer’s land,” Trump told the gathering. Calling it a “massive power grab,” he added, “if you want to build a new home … you have to worry about getting hit with a huge fine if you fill in as much as a puddle – just a puddle – on your lot.”

But these so-called puddles and ditches, according to scientists across the country, are fundamental to the nation’s drinking water supplies and to wildlife, including many rare animals and plants."

Jane Kay reports for Reveal June 20, 2017.