2 minute read
CLEAN WATER ACT FACES ATTACK
Clean Water Act Faces Attack Colorado Fights Back
by Colorado TU Staff
Since its adoption in the 1970s, the Clean Water Act has led to dramatic improvements in water quality nationwide. Through the Act, Congress set forth a national goal to secure fishable, swimmable waters by restoring and maintaining their chemical, physical, and biological integrity. Now, the law that has served America well for nearly 50 years is being rolled back.
In April, the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule to significantly narrow the scope of protections of our nation’s streams and wetlands. Notably, the proposal strips protection from all ephemeral streams and likely many intermittent streams. These smaller headwater systems are the feeders of our larger rivers and streams, and pollution and habitat destruction allowed upstream in these waterways will make its way downstream to the larger rivers on which our fisheries and communities rely. Similarly, the new rule strips protection from millions of acres of wetlands – estimated to be as much as 50% of our nation’s wetlands – harming those critical pieces of functioning watersheds that play a key role in groundwater recharge and pollution filtration.
The Clean Water rollback puts millions of stream miles at risk nationwide – streams that contribute to the drinking water supplies of 117 million Americans and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that support a robust outdoor recreation economy worth $887 billion. In Colorado, approximately 70%
of our stream miles are intermittent or ephemeral. Looking at just one Colorado watershed – the St. Vrain (pictured on the facing page) – 48% of stream miles in the basin are ephemeral and another 21% are intermittent. Other watersheds in Colorado face a similar story.
Fortunately, the State of Colorado is fighting back. Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed suit challenging the Clean Water rollback, saying it will “jeopardize the integrity and quality of Colorado’s waters.” The state’s suit points out that the proposed rule reducing the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act “conflicts with the text of the Clean Water
FULL COLOR Act, contravenes controlling Supreme Court precedent, contradicts the Act’s objective, and ignores sound science.”
Members of Congress have also stepped forward to oppose the rollback. Rep. Ron Wyden (OR), chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which oversees Clean Water Act programs, has introduced the “Clean Water for All Act,” H.R. 6745, which would block implementation of the new rule. You can help by reaching out to your federal legislators and urging them to support the Clean Water for All Act by visiting our action alert here.
DVD Included!
$27.95 ISBN 978-1-892469-29-8
Step-by-step fl y pattern tutorials develop your tying skills one pattern at a time. After completing all seven patterns you will have the skills to tie most of the fl ies you will ever need. Available from your favorite retailer or give us a call.
