There are still 14,400 EPA employees left. Are you saying that this many EPA employees are not sufficient to ensure safe drinking water?

If that's literally the only thing it did, with zero management structure, that means a scant 4-5 people to assure clean water per county in the US.

Can't tell if this is sarcasm. Clean water is the responsibility of local governments, not the federal government.

Not sarcasm. The comment I replied to made the argument, likely hyperbolically, that 14,400 people should be enough to make sure water is safe. Taking that literally, according to the mighty Google, we have roughly 3,142 counties (or similar organizational units) in the States, meaning that even if clean drinking water was it's only function (which it obviously isn't) that gives you 4.58, or between 4 and 5, EPA representatives per county in the US to oversee clean drinking water. And again that is assuming there is no management structure, no supervisors, no coordinators, no managers, and that clean drinking water is their only function which it isn't.

Basically I'm taking the hyperbole and showing that it's not even that hyperbolic, and while 14,400 sounds like a lot of people, when you're talking the task of protecting the environment in all 50 states, that's really not that many.

How do you explain the existence of the Clean Water Act? Waterways don’t end at county or parish borders.

The federal govt is expected to resolve disputes between states in the Constitution. Waterways and pollution clearly falls under that.

The federalist papers also expect the federal govt. to offer some protection from more local governments when they disregard public order.

Yes they have a role, but most water management happens at a local level.

by that logic hurricane repair is the responsibility of local governments, not the federal government.

or taken to the stupid conclusion, war is the responsibility of local governments, not the federal government.

>or taken to the stupid conclusion, war is the responsibility of local governments, not the federal government.

Well no, I think that one is quite literally spelled out in the Constitution as a function of Congress.

Waterways normally cross state lines so that is also spelled out in the Constitution as a responsibility of the federal government.