Stop the Water Quality Rollback

For nearly 50 years, the Clean Water Act has been a tool for improving the quality of waters in Colorado and nationwide.  Now, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission is considering a new rule that would allow for greater degradation of many Colorado waters.  Urban rivers like the Denver South Platte (pictured) would be especially at risk - but mountain streams could also see their protections weakened.

Please sign our petition below to oppose this rollback of Colorado's anti-degradation rules. You can also add a personal comment if you wish.  The Commission is used to hearing from parties, but rarely from the public at large - so your participation can make a difference.

Help us tell the Water Quality Control Commission that we need to protect our water quality, not enable more degradation!

As a Colorado resident who cares about the health of our rivers for people and the environment, I request that the Water Quality Control Commission does not change the antidegradation rule for the following reasons:

1. The way the current rule is written, it incentivizes water quality improvement. This proposed rule change would remove incentives to clean up streams, and replace it with a system that allows for more water quality degradation.
2. Millions of dollars are being poured into efforts throughout the state to improve our urban river corridors. This proposed rule change would undercut those investments, and would remove incentives to reduce pollution and improve stream quality. This proposed rule is not limited to our cities and towns, as it would also allow activities to pollute mountain and plains streams and rivers. 
3. This rule change would benefit industry over people and the environment by allowing more pollution, especially in our urban streams where industrial activity is disproportionately located in lower income neighborhoods. This rule change would exacerbate inequality and would be a discriminatory regulation leading to environmental injustice.

All Coloradans and our environment depend on clean, flowing, healthy rivers. Colorado thrives when our rivers do. Protect water quality for all, do not change the antidegradation rule.