CTU HELPS SECURE IMPROVED WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

On June 11 and 12, 2007, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission held its rulemaking hearing for water
quality standards in the Arkansas and Rio Grande basins. CTU was a formal “party” to the rulemaking, and
offered a proposal to designate as “outstanding waters” two key greenback cutthroat trout streams near Pikes
Peak: Bear and Severy Creeks. CTU’s proposal was supported by the Division of Wildlife and Colorado Springs
Utilities (which takes water from the streams downstream of the greenback habitats).
RiverWatch volunteers with the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of TU have been collecting water quality data over
the past two years on these streams, and documented that they are of high quality. Both streams also support
recovery populations of greenback cutthroat trout, a federally-listed threatened species under the Endangered
Species Act. Protecting the current high levels of water quality will help secure these valuable native trout
populations and assist in efforts to recover the species. The Commission agreed and designated both streams as
“outstanding waters,” which places them under an “anti-degradation” standard. This means that water quality
must be preserved at the existing, high-quality levels. The Commission’s decision is a valuable step forward in
protecting habitat for the greenback cutthroat trout.
CTU also raised concerns with proposals offered by other parties in the hearing. Specifically:
• Climax Molybdenum proposed a weakening of zinc standards in portions of the Upper Arkansas River.
In pre-hearing negotiations, agreement was reached on an acute zinc standard based on actual ambient
conditions. A great deal of mine cleanup work has allowed trout to re-establish in the Upper Arkansas,
and this agreement will help ensure that we don’t take steps backward in terms of water quality.
• The Division of Hazardous Materials proposed relaxed standards for zinc and cadmium on two other
portions of the Upper Arkansas. CTU expressed concern that the standards were being set using studies
on the effects of individual metals on fish – not on consideration of the combined effects. While we were
unsuccessful in changing the immediate proposal, we hope to continue to build awareness of the need for
more data on the effects of different pollutants in combination, not just individually.
• The Cripple Creek and Victor mining company sought a “no fish” qualifier for Cripple Creek – a finding
that this area cannot support fish (and therefore need not have water quality standards that protect fish).
Ultimately, the Commission segmented the stream, keeping the lower portions (where fish are found) as a
“reviewable” water with greater protections than the company had proposed.