Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on Thursday asked the Obama administration to provide more clarity on the impact of the Waters of the U.S. rule.

In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Secretary of the Army John McHough and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Stabenow and a dozen other Democratic senators said, “While we have long been supporters of the Clean Water Act protecting our nation’s water resources, we want to make sure that the proposed jurisdictional rule and the interpretive rule do not have unintended effects on agriculture and on the conservation practices currently used by many of our nation’s farmers and ranchers.”

“The proposed ‘Waters of the US’ rule and the interpretive rule could undermine progress made in the 2014 farm bill if they create an atmosphere of uncertainty that results in fewer conservation practices or significant new burdens for our nation’s farmers and ranchers.”

The senators asked for clarification on six specific questions.

▪ Senators’ letter on WOTUS