The Clean Water Restoration Act is scheduled to be marked up by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee soon. The bill would significantly expand federal jurisdiction over farms and ranches and would amount to a giant federal land grab that would be disastrous to U.S. agriculture.

Currently, the federal government has jurisdiction over "navigable waters of the United States." The proposal is to remove the word "navigable" from the definition, which would expand federal regulatory control to unprecedented levels essentially putting road ditches, drainage ditches, ponds, creeks and even mud holes under the strong-arm of the federal government. This is unnecessary and would be an infringement of private property rights.

If this bill passes, ranchers like me would be forced to get a permit just to continue everyday operations. The federal government is already struggling to handle a backlog of existing permit requests. Passage of the CWRA would create a massive amount of new permitting requirements, as well as cost for producers.

Maintaining clean land and water is critical to ranchers' bottom line not to mention essential for the health and well-being of our herds and even our families. The current Clean Water Act has been successful in achieving this goal, thanks to the strong partnership that exists between the federal and state governments, which allows states flexibility to manage resources in a way that makes sense.

The North Dakota Stockmen's Association has emphasized these points to our Congressional delegation and through a legislative resolution passed during the recent state legislative session. Let Senators Conrad and Dorgan know how much we appreciate their support on this issue and what negative impact the CWRA would have on your operation if it would come to fruition.

(Jack Reich is president of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association.)