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Minnesota Congressman uses fencepost analogy to make point about WOTUS

A Minnesota Congressman used the example of digging a fence post to get his point across about EPA’s new Clean Water Rule. Tim Walz was part of an ag issues forum at Farmfest and said he posed this question during one of the hearings on the rule.

“What happens, for example, in the new ruling, if someone is digging a fence post near a wetland or one of the protected waters?  What happens to the dirt that comes out of the fence post?”

An official with USDA told Walz they would need to check with the Army Corps of Engineers.

“I said ‘can you see why a producer is concerned if they dig a fence post and they’re going to have to ask the Corps of Engineers?’  It has nothing to do with their commitment to clean water; it has everything to do with what makes for an orderly functioning farm, that is in best-practices and makes sense.”

He told those listening to the forum that what’s in the best interest of the U.S. is to produce food and fuel and do so in a responsible manner that allows future generations to do that too.