WASHINGTON — In response to a lawsuit from six Tribal Nations, a U.S. District Court has tossed out a Trump Administration-era rule that greatly narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act and threatened clean drinking water, wildlife, and healthy rivers and streams across the country.

“This victory will help ensure that we have safe, clean drinking water, healthy rivers and streams, and robust populations of wildlife,” said Jim Murphy, legal advocacy director for the National Wildlife Federation. “We congratulate the six tribes who brought this suit and Earthjustice, who represented them, on this important win. We look forward to working with diverse stakeholders and the Biden Administration to put in place a highly protective rule that holds true to the law and the science.”

The six tribes who brought the lawsuit were the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Tohono O’Odham Nation, and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The court decision stated that the Navigable Waters Protection Rule had “fundamental, substantive flaws” and that leaving the rule in place “would risk serious environmental harm.”

With this decision, the agencies should implement the pre-2015 clean water protections that were in place for decades, which will allow for more important wetlands, streams, and other waters to be federally protected from pollution and destruction.