President Donald Trump touted his administration's repealing of the "waters of the United States" rule, also known as WOTUS, while speaking at the 100th annual American Farm Bureau Convention in New Orleans.

"We're saving farmers and ranchers from one of the most ridiculous regulations ever imposed on anybody in our nation, the waters of the United States rule," Trump said in his speech Monday to applause and cheers from the audience.

"You could have a pond, a little pond, and they consider it a lake," Trump said. "You're regulated as though it were a lake. We're going to get government off your backs so you can earn a living and support your families doing what you love, and I know what you love, farmers love what they're doing."

The Obama administration issued WOTUS in 2015 to expand federal authority over waterways, including those on private property. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the rule was necessary to clear up confusion in the wake of two U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

However, a large contingent of U.S. states disagreed with the Obama administration and sued to keep WOTUS from going into effect. States were joined by farmers, ranchers, energy producers and a whole host of other industries in challenging WOTUS.