File this under the "great news for our home river" tab for your 2022 trapper keeper. On September 13th, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission moved to reclassify the section of the South Platte River that runs through Commerce City and the section of Clear Creek where Coors facilities release discharges as reviewable.
Well, in 2020, those stretches were demoted to use-protected. This meant that entities were allowed to discharge waste without community review of permits or other proposed actions. The only caveat was that those discharges didn't cause the South Platte to dip below minimum water-quality standards. I think we can all agree - that's generally bad for the water quality and fisheries that exist on Clear Creek & the Denver South Platte. Now, this use-protected classification wasn't going to be re-evaluated for five years following the reclassification in 2020. However, after the tireless work of a handful of nonprofits and community groups like Trout Unlimited, Conservation Colorado, Western Resource Advocates and GreenLatinos, the Commission decided to review the classification status early.
Scenes from the 2022 Cast & Sip
This is great news for the DSP and in many ways is thanks to you - our loyal customers. Over the past several years, we've held a variety of events including most recently the Cast & Sip with Cakebread Cellars. The proceeds from these events were donated to Denver Trout Unlimited and their efforts to conserve the Denver South Platte River by improving the fishery, water quality, river access and fishing opportunities for all. So, a heartful THANK YOU to you for all of your support of the past several years. Cheers to a cleaner Clear Creek and Denver South Platte!
