dude, you have nothing to worry about. your filter has to be submerged in the water for several seconds. i didnt have a fender lining where my filter was for almost a year and the filter was completely exposed. the filter got dirty as hell, but nothing ever happened water related. it was covered in snow when we got bad snow storms and nothing happened. im not saying you can drive through a pond and nothing happen (you still need to drive carefully) but you shouldn't stress it.