A coalition of environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency in 1996 to force the State of Wyoming to enforce the 1972 Clean Water Act. If the State had turned their back on the lawsuit, the Wyoming DEQ would have stepped in and done the testing themselves, Phillips said. The DEQ would have established water quality standards throughout the state and TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) would have been part of this.

TMDLs are a formula-based calculation to reduce a pollutant which is causing water quality impairments. For the most part, TMDLs are not developed by local people within the local community affected. TMDLs established by the DEQ are numerical calculations and don`t take into consideration historical use, there is no local input, Phillips said. They just grab water samples and develop a standard. From that point, chances of gaining back local control is slim to none according to Phillips.