Ask Governor Polis to Protect Colorado's Wetlands and Headwaters Streams

On May 25th, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Sackett vs. EPA that sharply reduced Clean Water Act protections for wetlands that are vital to healthy and functioning watersheds. While not directly addressed, the decision also appears to put streams that don’t have year-round flow at risk of losing Clean Water Act protection as well.  Those ephemeral and intermittent streams represent a majority of Colorado’s waterways.

With federal protection for most of Colorado’s waterways jeopardized under the Court’s decision, we need the State to step up and ensure our waters remain protected.  Water quality protection must start at the source, and if the headwater and feeder streams are opened to degradation, all of our waters will suffer along with the fish, wildlife, and communities that depend upon them.

The good news is that the Colorado Water Quality Control Act prohibits discharges into waters of the State without a permit – including these waters that have lost federal protection.  The bad news is that for dredging and filling of waterways and wetlands, Colorado has no permitting program and has always relied on the federal permits to address those activities.  With federal protections now rolled back, the State must step up with a program of its own to fill that gap.

Please take a moment to ask Governor Jared Polis to ensure that the State takes on this permitting responsibility so that state water quality protections are applied to keep our headwater streams and wetlands intact. With a strong State-level program, Colorado can continue to protect the high-quality water that we need for our fisheries, our cities, and our working landscapes.