Changes to the Clean Water Act

There have been changes made to Clean Water Act.

Those rules now exempt certain types of creeks and bodies of water from federal protection, including areas that only contain water rights after rainfall.

Environmental groups have fought the rule change, but officials from the Nebraska Farm Bureau said it created too many regulatory burdens and cost them money. 

The bureau also argued the previous WOTUS rules were not about clean water, but instead about a massive expansion of federal authority over private land.

Environmental experts say it will most likely lead to more pollution in U.S. waterways in the future.