On February 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguements in three cases that concern the scope of the Clean Water Act. Two of those cases, Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. United States Army Corps of Engineers will test the Clean Water Act's geographical scope, and threaten to severely limit the number of streams, wetlands, ponds, and other waters which are protected by the act.

The third case, S.D. Warren v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection, is concerned with the scope of activities that are covered under the act. With the support of the hydropower industry, the petitioner, a South African-owned company that owns several hydropower dams in Maine, is trying to get the court to take away States' rights to require hydropower projects to meet state water quality standards. This case could potentially affect more than 1000 Federally-regulated hydropower projects on more than 500 rivers in 45 states. Coalition members Friends of the Presumpscot and American Rivers are intervenors in this case.