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Clear Creek Watershed Foundation a finalist for large EPA grant The U.S Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation has been chosen as a finalist for a $544,090 Targeted Watershed Grant. The proposal, one of 16 finalists in the nation, features a large-scale mine site remediation project to restore water quality in impaired stream segments. The proposal includes installation of traps for contaminated sediment, removal of mine waste piles and development of an innovative orphan mine trading program to fund maintenance of sediment traps. |
Clear Creek Watershed Foundation promotes sustainable watershed management
By Ed Rapp, Clear Creek Watershed Foundation president, and Chris Crouse, outreach coordinator
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Foundation’s new Web site The Clear Creek Watershed Foundation (CCWF) recently launched a new Web site – www.clearcreekwater.org – that provides comprehensive information about the past, present and future of the Clear Creek Watershed. Incorporated in 1997, the foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the ecological, aesthetic, recreational and economic conditions in the Clear Creek Watershed through comprehensive efforts with watershed stakeholders. This includes, but is not limited to, improving the water quality of Clear Creek and its tributaries through mine remediation projects. |
In 2006, the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation (CCWF) was awarded a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Regional Priorities Grant to research and develop sustainable watershed management tools for export to other watersheds throughout the arid Mountain West.
The foundation promotes its sustainable watershed management initiative through projects that improve and protect the natural resources of the watershed. The process of sustainable watershed management involves project evaluation through the integration of ecological, economic and social values.
"Experience shows that a more sustainable approach to resource management and project management enhances all value sets,” according to CCWF president Ed Rapp.
The foundation’s goal is to encourage and facilitate the broader application of sustainable and regenerative watershed practices. It provides jurisdictions, agencies and developers in the watershed with information and tools to make sustainability-focused decisions regarding environmental restoration/protection activities and development practices
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The Aorta Seep is a closed mine adit for which there is no Potentially Responsible Party (PRP). The waters are acidic and heavily metals-laden. |
Based on stakeholder input, the most imminent threats to the sustainability of the Clear Creek Watershed are:
- Proposed Interstate 70 expansion
- Potential large-scale wildfire
- Metals loading
- Sediment loading
- Nutrient loading
- Toxic spills/incidents
- Growth/development
- Drought
Because the downward flow of water through a watershed carries with it the effects of nature and human activity, concern for a river’s health must include concern for the health of the entire watershed. Natural and manmade systems respond to cause and effect. In order for decisions to be made in favor of sustainable practices, compelling qualitative and/or quantitative data and information must be provided to decision-makers. These metrics can then be applied to various projects to document the spatial extent of the improvement practice.
To that end, the CCWF has developed watershed-scale tools to evaluate public and private watershed project investments on a sustainability basis by defining and surveying the latest envirometrics, econometrics and sociometrics as they relate to the Clear Creek Watershed. These data are evaluated to determine which projects provide the best bang for the buck. These tools also provide a way to measure benefits for watershed sustainability improvements.
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Remediation and preservation of the Maude Monroe-Donna Juanita mine site offers environmental, economic and social benefits to the watershed. |
This multi-attribute model has been used to prioritize roughly 60 actual and/or potential watershed-based sustainability projects that promote innovation, cooperation and cost efficiency. These projects are arranged into eight market areas, each with a positive benefit-to-cost ratio:
- Orphan (abandoned) mine remediation
- Natural resource management
- Water and wastewater management
- Preservation and promotion of historic mine sites
- Alternative energy and transportation
- Waste stream reduction
- Subsurface rights and uses
- Education and outreach
The CCWF’s goal is to get these projects done by facilitating cooperative partnerships and funding. The foundation believes that promoting these and future projects will make Clear Creek and its communities a more sustainable and regenerative watershed – as defined by the synergy of ecologic, economic and social values.
For more information, contact the CCWF at 303-567-2699 or at ccwfoundation@clearcreekwireless.com.
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