Farmer disputes federal Clean Water Act regulations regarding dried up puddle

From the Visalia Times-Delta:

A vineyard owner in San Joaquin County is battling overreaching federal regulations on his property that can negatively affect large numbers of farmers in California and elsewhere. And Congress is considering making the regulations even more burdensome.

The regulations affecting Brad Goehring’s vineyard and pasture property in Clements originated with the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) which became effective in 1972. Objections to the provisions of the act by others have resulted in one legal case that reached the U. S. Supreme Court and brought a ruling in favor of the land owner. The Army Corps of Engineers(ACE) claimed that a wetland on the property, 20 miles from any stream or tributary, was part of the country’s navigable waters.

In Goehring’s case the ACE contended that he was filling and destroying “waters of the United States” by simply disking a dried-out puddle to control weeds, restoring it to acceptable pasture use.

To show that it meant business the ACE placed a cease and desist order on the property, preventing Goehring’s use of it for any purpose. Luckily no equipment or buildings were on the property at the time, or the agency could have ordered them to sit idle as long as the order was in place. As it was he experienced financial deficits by losing the use of the land for two years until the order was lifted.

To read the full text of this story from the Visalia Times-Delta, click here.

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