Agricultural leaders and farm state lawmakers cheered a proposal made last week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish a clear, understandable and implementable definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS) in the Clean Water Act.

The proposed new Clean Water Rule would replace an Obama-era rule that has been roundly criticized as a federal overreach that leaves farmers and others in regulatory limbo.

The existing WOTUS rule, which has not been implemented nationwide because of multiple lawsuits, would have covered nearly all of Iowa and would have regulated road ditches,...