FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Contact:
Robert Hirschfeld, Director of Water Policy, Prairie Rivers Network
rhirschfeld@prairierivers.org | 217-344-2371 x805
ILLINOIS – After the EPA’s own impact analysis found that 94.6% of Illinois wetlands could have no federal protection under a proposed Clean Water Act rule, Prairie Rivers Network and 42 allied organizations filed formal objections, warning of severe environmental, economic, and public health consequences.
In public comments filed this week, the organizations objected to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed redefinition of the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, and urged the agencies to maintain the strongest possible definition of federally protected waters to safeguard Illinois’ rivers, streams, and wetlands.
If finalized, the proposed rule will leave almost all of Illinois wetlands without federal protection under the Clean Water Act, according to the agencies’ own impact analysis. The loss of these protections will worsen water pollution, increase flood risk, threaten public infrastructure, and undermine public health. Illinois has already lost 85% of its historic wetlands, making the protection of remaining wetlands critical for clean water, flood protection, and community safety.
“The proposed rule would functionally write Illinois wetlands out of the Clean Water Act,” said Robert Hirschfeld, director of water policy at Prairie Rivers Network. “Because Illinois has yet to enact comprehensive statewide wetlands protections, this rollback would leave most wetlands with little to no protection at all, shifting enormous costs onto Illinois communities.”
The loss of federal wetland protections would carry major economic costs. Peer-reviewed research published in the American Economic Review estimates wetlands provide about $745 per acre per year in residential flood-mitigation value alone. Applied to the 935,147 Illinois wetland acres projected to lose protection, that amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost flood protection, costs shifted onto homeowners, local governments, and taxpayers.
“The Illinois Public Health Association has serious public health concerns about the proposed changes to the Clean Water Act. Weakening protections for streams and wetlands puts Illinois communities at greater risk of polluted drinking water, increased flooding and exposure to harmful contaminants,” said Conny Moody, Government Relations Director for IPHA. “Protecting our waters is fundamental to protecting people’s health, and strong Clean Water Act safeguards help prevent these risks before they reach families and communities.”
Prairie Rivers Network and the signatories’ objections to the proposed rule focused on several fundamental flaws:
- It unnecessarily narrows WOTUS beyond what Sackett requires and contradicts the Clean Water Act’s core purpose to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.
- It abandons hydrologic science, especially by ignoring groundwater, subsurface flowpaths, intermittent hydrology, and the connectivity of wetland and tributary systems.
- It introduces new vague standards, including the undefined “wet season,” creating deep regulatory uncertainty, contrary to the agencies’ stated goal of clarity.
- It would remove protection from over 80% of U.S. wetlands, and likely even greater shares in Illinois due to artificial drainage, tiling, and extensive agricultural modification.
- The agencies’ own regulatory impact analysis (RIA) acknowledges high uncertainty and does not quantify the environmental, economic, flood, or public-health costs.
- It incentivizes drainage, berms, roads, tiling, and levee construction to sever jurisdiction, rewarding destructive practices and inviting jurisdictional manipulation.
- It abandons cooperative federalism, leaving states, many without protections or capacity, with the burden of filling regulatory gaps.
“Wetlands are at the heart of Illinois waterways, and each year we learn more about their incredible abilities to filter pollutants, absorb stormwater, safeguard biodiversity and attract recreators,” noted Brian Gill, Senior Director of Government Affairs & Policy at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. “By eroding the Clean Water Act, the federal government is limiting the untapped potential of our wetlands and putting both people and animals at risk.”
The following 42 organizations signed on in support of Prairie Rivers Network’s public comments, representing a broad coalition of environmental, public health, conservation, labor, and community organizations:
- Bird Conservation Network
- Friends of the Chicago River
- Sustainable Springfield
- Ecojustice Collaborative
- Go Green Winnetka
- Greater Highland Area Concerned Citizens
- Mississippi River Collaborative
- Boone-Dutch Creeks Watershed Alliance
- Climate Action Evanston
- Natural Habitat Evanston
- Green Dolphin Project Global
- Friends of the Forest Preserves
- League of Women Voters of Illinois
- Illinois Environmental Council
- The Wetlands Initiative
- Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves
- Upper Sangamon River Conservancy
- Illinois Audubon Society
- Faith in Place
- Advocates for Urban Agriculture
- Severson Dells Nature Center
- Bright Beat
- 350 Kishwaukee
- Metro East Green Alliance
- Illinois Public Health Association
- Climate Reality Chicago Metro
- Sustain Rockford
- Nippersink Watershed Association
- Clean Power Lake County
- Shedd Aquarium
- American Federation Of Government Employees Local 704
- Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO)
- Edgewater Environmental Coalition
- Illinois Clinicians for Climate Action
- Neighbors for Environmental Justice
- GreenLatinos Illinois
- Southeast Environmental Task Force
- Chicago BIPOC Birders
- Openlands
- Urban Rivers
- Elevate
- Environment Illinois
At Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), we protect water, heal land, and inspire change. Using the creative power of science, law, and collective action, we protect and restore our rivers, return healthy soils and diverse wildlife to our lands, and transform how we care for the earth and for each other. PRN is the Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. To learn more, please visit www.prairierivers.org.
