Governor Kate Brown recently submitted  comments to the federal government   (U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers) regarding its proposal to issue a rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.  These comments criticize the environmental rollback of the “waters of the State” definition and emphasize the critical role that waters proposed to be excluded play in overall watershed health and function.  Oregon specifically  highlights the importance of both intermittently flowing perennial and ephemeral seasonal headwater streams to Oregon’s valuable fisheries.  “Ephemeral streams are essential to protecting the overall health of a watershed including the protection of drinking water, recreation, fish, wildlife and their habitats, as well as economies dependent on those systems.” p. 9