Under new EPA rule, protections would dry up for wetlands in Tennessee, Mississippi River basin

Wetlands like these in Shelby County, Tenn. could be threatened under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule. Photographed on March 11, 2025. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht for Tennessee Lookout)

Many acres of wetlands across the vast Mississippi River basin would lose federal protection under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Agricultural and builders’ groups have called it a win for private property owners. Environmental groups warn that it will exacerbate costly challenges like flooding that already plague the river and its tributaries.

The new rule, proposed Nov. 17, is the latest in a convoluted, decades-long fight over which streams and wetlands qualify as “Waters of the United States” and thus are regulated by the federal government under the Clean