EPA’s push to weaken clean water rule could hit Colorado’s groundwater, fishing, brewing, tourism and beyond.
“Not everybody has time, or the money, to go to the mountains to fish.” Garcia’s reaction to President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt’s push to weaken federal power over streams and wetlands reflected wide concern across Colorado and the West, where more than half the waterways could lose protection.
“We need reliable sources of clean water to consistently produce the great beer that is key to our success.” In western Colorado, a growing reliance on pristine water for the economy — depending more on recreation and tourism — compelled concern.
“While QQ supports increased clarity for the definition of ‘waters of the United States,’ this clarity should not mean reduced water quality protection under the Clean Water Act,” Jarvis and the other local leaders told EPA officials June 19, after the feds had asked for input for their proposed repeal and overhaul of clean water rules.
“Water quality in the headwaters of Colorado is critically important for our regional tourism economy as much as for environmental protection.
“Colorado’s outdoor economy and quality of life depend on healthy, clean watersheds, and anglers know that starts at the source: the small, unassuming streams, headwaters and wetlands that rescinding the Clean Water Rule puts at risk,” he said.
Instead, this EPA proposal aims to drain our wetlands and pollute our streams,” he said.
Since 1985, Westminster has tried to protect 87.5 acres of public wetlands just west of Hidden Lake.
That construction, which requires a federal permit, likely would not be protected against pollution, dredging and filling if Trump and the EPA push through the changes of clean water rules, said Seth Plas in the city engineering office.
We’re a city that enjoys being outdoors.