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Principles WCC supports protecting water resources for all beneficial uses including municipal, industrial, agricultural, environmental, and recreational needs. Both quantity and quality of water are important to maintaining productive water resources. To maintain the quality of life that we all enjoy in Colorado, it is important to conserve, protect, and restore our water resources. Our members have adopted the following key principles:
- CONSERVE: Keep currently healthy rivers and streams healthy, by maintaining in stream flows, and developing new flexible arrangements for managing water.
- PROTECT: Keep threatened, but currently healthy, rivers and streams whole, or as close to whole as possible.
- RESTORE: Restore dry, low flow, or poor quality rivers and streams to a healthy condition.
Issues
In Colorado
Nationally
[top of page] General Resources and Links
General Resources
- Citizen's Guide to Colorado Water Quality Protection - Produced by the Colorado Foundation for Water Education
- Facing our Future - Report conveying the views of the conservation community on meeting the water needs of the Front Range over the next 25 years. Produced by Trout Unlimited, Western Resource Advocates and the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
Links
- Colorado Water Quality Control Commission - State agency that makes decisions regarding water quality regulations and standards.
- Colorado Water Conservation Board - State agency responsible for conserving, protecting and developing the state's water supplies, as well as flood protection and drought planning.
- Basin Roundtables - Stakeholder groups for each major river basin that are charged by the State Legislature with providing a forum for discussing water issues, developing basin-wide needs assessments, and administering funds for water projects. Lots of good background information available in the individual basin sections of the website.
- Colorado River Water Conservation District - Public water agency that manages Colorado River water supplies and advocates for West Slope water interests. Lots of good information on current water issues, reports and studies available on the website.
- Colorado Watershed Assembly - Nonprofit advocate for Colorado's citizen watershed protection groups. Links to watershed groups, news and events on the website.
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Issues
Protecting Public Drinking Water Supplies
The watersheds that feed public drinking water supplies face numerous threats, from oil and gas drilling to wildfire. When raw water is tainted, it increases treatment costs and can ultimately reduce the healthfulness of the water that flows from our taps. WCC is working to protect public water supply watersheds by promoting municipal watershed protection ordinances and exploring options for county and state regulatory action, as well as ways of cooperating with federal land management agencies.
Resources:
- Program from 11/8/07 workshop: "Keeping Public Drinking Water Supplies Clean: Opportunities and Challenges for Protecting Water Supply Watersheds"
- Workshop presentation materials:
- Statutory authority for municipal watershed ordinances
- Summaries and Links for Existing Municipal Watershed Protection Ordinances
- Other tools for source water protection:
- Legal memoranda:
- Genesis Community Development Plan for drilling in the Grand Junction and Palisade municipal watersheds:
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Stormwater Management
Sediment runoff from construction sites is a major source of pollution in rivers and streams. The explosive growth of drilling is increasing the oil and gas industry’s contribution to the problem, particularly in remote areas. With allies, WCC has successfully defended Colorado’s stormwater regulations for oil and gas industry construction activities. This was necessary because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 granted the industry an exemption from the Clean Water Act, eliminating the federal requirement to control runoff from construction related to oil and gas drilling. Now that the regulations are firmly in place, the focus has shifted to promoting better enforcement.
Resources:
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Protecting River Corridors
Vegetation and wetlands along rivers and streams provide vital wildlife habitat, prevent pollution from entering waterways, and provide great opportunities for recreational and alternative transportation corridors.
In 2007:
- Members of the Uncompahgre Valley Association (UVA) and Friends of the River Uncompahgre (FORU), which spun off from UVA in the fall of 2006, worked to undo damage and bad precedent when the River Landing shopping center project on the banks of the Uncompahgre River in Montrose roared full-steam ahead before the project had obtained proper permits for impacts to wetlands. Members wrote letters, got press coverage and met with both the local Army Corps of Engineers officer and Rep. Salazar’s staff to press for a public hearing and changes to reduce the project’s impact. The completion of the project was significantly delayed, sending a warning to others that are tempted to act first and seek permission later.
- UVA, FORU and Ridgway Ouray Community Council members are currently working to establish a comprehensive Uncompahgre Watershed planning initiative.
- Mesa County members are currently rallying opposition to industrial zoning of a riverfront parcel adjacent to a hike and bike trail and two new parks.
Resources:
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Promoting healthy in-stream flows
WCC is a party to a lawsuit seeking to ensure adequate flows in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The parties are currently involved in settlement negotiations. WCC also supports efforts to strengthen the state’s program for acquiring water rights to provide adequate in-stream flows to meet environmental and recreational needs.
Resources:
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Clean Water Restoration Act
The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (CWRA) would unambiguously bring federal protections back to our isolated wetlands and small streams, which make up the vast majority of the stream miles in our state. CWRA, introduced in Congress as HB 2421 and S 1870, responds to recent court and administrative decisions that have reduced the traditional scope of the Clean Water Act.
Resources:
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