aBOUT CCWC

Coal Creek Watershed Coalition (CCWC) is a nonprofit that was founded in 2004 to focus on water quality and address the community’s concerns about historic mines in the vicinity of Crested Butte, including the Standard Mine.

Our mission is to maintain, restore, and enhance the environmental integrity of Crested Butte's local watersheds to ensure those local watersheds and habitats are of the highest possible quality necessary to support wildlife, aquatic life, and human life.

PAST AND CURRENT STEWARDSHIP EFFORTS

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The observable increasing and decreasing of algae populations is a result of many different influences. The following factors can heavily impact algal growth:

2004-2016:

CCWC worked with partners to characterize water quality and historic abandoned mine sites in the Coal Creek Watershed, particularly the Standard Mine Superfund Site.

Pre-restoration Standard Mine Site Map, March 2010

2004-Present:

CCWC’s flagship program is long-term water quality monitoring in Coal Creek and its tributaries. Our monitoring program evolved to support efforts to establish site-specific standards for lower Coal Creek.

We collect water quality samples that are analyzed for metals and other constituents of concern, priority metals include cadmium, copper, and zinc.
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Appropriate standards and permit limits will reduce cadmium, copper, and zinc loads and better protect existing water uses in lower Coal Creek and downstream waters.

Volunteers collecting water quality samples in Coal Creek.

2016:

CCWC supported a statewide effort to characterize water quality at draining mine sites throughout the East River Watershed in response to critical data gaps identified following the Gold King Spill near Durango in 2015.

2014-present:

Since 2014 CCWC and local partners have provided portable toilets to popular dispersed camping sites and trailheads.

​These portable toilets have prevented thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pounds of human waste from entering local landscapes and waterways

2017:

CCWC and partners secured funding to reclaim the Gunsight Processing Area near Crested Butte. The project removed  approximately 260 pounds of cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc.

​CCWC worked with partners to adopt revised water quality standards in lower Coal Creek which protect existing water quality to a much higher degree than any prior standards. 

Gunsight Processing Area Site pre-restoration

2018:

CCWC partnered with the US Forest Service to install a permanent toilet facility at Musicians’ Camp. In the past three years, the permanent toilets at Musicians’ Camp have intercepted over 1,000 pounds of human waste that would have otherwise been deposited in the watershed.

Sediment-laden water from a tributary. Photo Credit: NASA, Thursday, June 19, 2014

2019:

CCWC expanded into the Washington Gulch Watershed to better characterize E. coli concentrations and to address stakeholder concerns. 

2020:

In 2020, the CCWC partnered with the Town of Crested Butte, the US Forest Service, and the National Forest Foundation to install a permanent toilet in the Washington Gulch Watershed. 

​Based on pumping records from portable toilets at nearby sites, CCWC expects the new permanent toilets to intercept about 800 pounds of human waste each year.

Aluminum pond in Redwell Basin August 6, 2013.

FUTURE EFFORTS

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Gossan Revegetation Project:
CCWC is currently working with partners to restore the gossan. The gossan, a natural feature composed of iron oxides, is one of the largest natural contributors to metals loading in the Coal Creek Watershed. In 1979, much of the Gossan burned in a wildfire that started at the Keystone Mine. By reestablishing vegetation, controlling erosion, and improving drainage pathways, the project aims to reduce metals mobilization from the gossan into Coal Creek. The reduction in metals loading from the gossan will improve the Town’s drinking water supply and watershed health

Keystone Mine:
CCWC looks forward to continued progress on issues related to the Keystone Mine Site where CCWC provides technical expertise to the Town of Crested Butte and Gunnison County. The next Water Quality Control Commission Rulemaking Hearing for lower Coal Creek is scheduled for June 2022.
 
CCWC has received funding from DRMS to characterize historic abandoned mine sites and develop reclamation projects in the East River Watershed.

Standard Mine:
In the coming years, CCWC will continue to support CDPHE and EPA as they make decisions regarding the long-term management of the Standard Mine Superfund Site. CCWC and USGS lead the interim water quality monitoring. 

​CCWC’s reporting will be critical in the process to determine whether additional remedial action is needed at the site.

Algae in Washington Gulch near the recreation path on September 8, 2020. Credit: Allison Del Gizzi, CCWC Staff