Letter: Changes to Clean Water Act threaten the bay and delta

The Trump administration’s proposal to strip waterways around the country of Clean Water Act protections would be devastating to the Bay Area, putting more than 40 percent of local stream miles at risk. Half of California’s surface water falls as rain or snow, forming streams, creeks and marshes that flow with the seasons. These “ephemeral” and intermittent waters would lose federal Clean Water Act protections if the Trump administration and corporate interests succeed in revising the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS), which defines which waters the Clean Water Act protects.