Click the link to read the article on The Aspen Times website (Westley Crouch). Here’s an excerpt:
Hunter and Woody Creeks and Avalanche and Thompson creeks in the Crystal River Basin are now designated Outstanding Waters by the Water Quality Control Commission. The Colorado Water Quality Control Commission on Aug. 21 unanimously designated roughly 385 miles of waterways across 15 rivers and streams in the upper and lower Colorado, Eagle, Yampa, and Roaring Fork River basins as Outstanding Waters. The Outstanding Waters designations are authorized by the Colorado Water Quality Control Act and the Clean Water Act…
“An Outstanding Waters designation is a protection that can be given to reaches of streams that offer water quality protection. It is the highest level of water quality protection that can be given by the state of Colorado,” [Mathew] Anderson said. “With the protection, future projects that may happen along these reaches have to ensure that the water quality will not be diminished.”
[…]
This designation can protect creeks and rivers from future developments and pollution. He noted that all existing industries, ranches, homes, and utilities along these sections of designations will be grandfathered in…He said that obtaining this designation took a coalition between different watershed groups that ranged from the Yampa to Eagle rivers…or creeks, streams, and rivers to receive this designation, the water quality must already be of a high standard. Eleven respective criteria points must be met as it relates to water quality before this designation can be obtained.