DENVER Fishing and environmental groups are hailing the Environmental Protection Agencys move to enforce clean water laws in small mountain streams.
Environment Colorado delivered more than 23,000 letters and postcards in support of the move to EPA regional chief Jim Martin on Tuesday, and Martin happily accepted them.
The EPA is trying to assert its authority over small, intermittent and headwaters streams after Supreme Court decisions in 2003 and 2008 seemed to limit the Clean Water Act to larger bodies of water.
David Nickum, head of the Colorado chapter of Trout Unlimited, said it feels like the Clean Water Acts protections have been fading the past 10 years after three successful decades.
So many of our rivers and our fisheries depend on healthy headwaters. Its pretty simple if you have pollution upstream, its going to make its way downstream, and youre going to have unhealthy rivers, Nickum said.
In Colorado, 98 percent of the population depends for drinking water on headwaters streams and other waters that would be covered by the EPAs new rule, according to an EPA analysis.
Martin said his agency spends too much time figuring out whether it has jurisdiction over a stream and not enough time cleaning up or preventing spills.
Ultimately our goal is to protect the physical and chemical integrity of all of our waters, Martin said. Were going to move forward. This is really important to the protection of clean water in this country.
A public comment period on the EPAs proposal closes this week. After that, the agency will have a formal rulemaking to determine the scope of its authority.
Congressional Republicans are pushing back on the EPAs move. The House passed a bill July 13 to turn over much of the EPAs authority over clean water to the states. All four Colorado Republicans voted for the bill, and all three Democrats opposed it.
Martin said the EPA has tried to reassure farmers and ranchers that his agency is not trying to expand its authority over agriculture.
Its not going to cover your stock pond. Its not going to cover your irrigated acreage, he said.
But Troy Bredenkamp, executive vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, isnt convinced.
Were still worried. We still dont like it, he said.
Congress intentionally limited the Clean Water Act to navigable waters, and now the EPA is trying to sidestep Congress wishes, Bredenkamp said.
We think its very important that there be some limit to federal jurisdiction, he said.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.