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Discharges of Dredged and Fill Material into State Waters

Division staff member in a yellow vest and jeans walking in a field next to a body of water under a blue sky with mountains in the distance

House Bill (HB) 24-1379 directs the Water Quality Control Division to implement a dredge and fill authorization program and the Water Quality Control Commission to promulgate rules for individual permitting and mitigation by Dec. 31, 2025.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, any person seeking authorization to discharge dredged or fill material into state waters that are not subject to federal jurisdiction shall apply for a Temporary Authorization from the division. Temporary Authorizations recognize Nationwide (NWP) and Regional General Permits (RGP) issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers as valid authorizations to discharge dredged or fill material into state waters.

For information on the division’s engagement efforts, including public meetings, meeting materials, and opportunities to provide feedback, please visit the dredge and fill engagement webpage.

Temporary Authorizations are required for projects that that meet one or more of the below criteria:

  • Occur in non-WOTUS state waters;
  • Require pre-construction notification; or
  • Require compensatory mitigation.

Temporary Authorizations are not required for projects that that meet one or more of the below criteria:

  • Occur in Waters of the United States;
  • Occur in isolated state waters (this is a separate authorization);
  • Can proceed without pre-construction notification under the relevant NWP or RGP;
  • Constitute exempted activities listed in 25-8-205.1(2)(8)(b); or
  • Constitute excluded water features listed in 25-8-205.1(2)(8)(d).

Temporary Authorization application materials are located at the links below. 

To complete the application:

  1. Download and complete the Dredge and Fill Temporary Authorization application.
  2. Please use the Submit Application button below to submit project notification. Attach the completed application at the bottom of the form.

The application must be signed and certified that it is complete and accurate to the best of the applicant’s knowledge in order for the division to process the application. Once the division receives a complete application, the division has 45 days to issue an authorization. If you have questions, please email cdphe_df_wqcd@state.co.us.

Additional information

 

To support potential project proponents, the division will provide training on Temporary Authorizations. During this training, the division will provide an overview of key components of Temporary Authorizations, explain application requirements, including compensatory mitigation, demonstrate where to find materials and resources, discuss the timing of the process, and provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions.

  • Temporary Authorization training - Register to attend
    Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 10 to 11:30 am

 

The division will be required to initiate consultation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) for activities that require compliance with Nationwide Permit General Condition 32(d)(2). If consultation is required, CPW will not exceed 25 days to respond to the consultation request. Pre-application consultation with CPW is not required but highly recommended. If a pre-application consultation is conducted with CPW, providing written documentation of CPW’s response to the project may satisfy the coordination requirements, resulting in quicker processing times.

For more information, please review the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

 

The division is drafting the Isolated State Waters General Authorization and anticipates noticing the authorization for a 60-day public comment period in Spring 2025.

HB24-1379 (section 25-8-205.1(5)(b)(III)(A)) directs the division to issue a general authorization for discharges of dredge or fill material into isolated state waters. Isolated state waters are:

  • Isolated Wetlands: Wetlands wholly surrounded by uplands. Isolated wetlands do not include wetlands that are within the 100-year floodplain or within 1,500 feet of an ordinary high watermark (OHWM) of other state waters.
  • Isolated Ponds and Impoundments: Ponds and impoundments that are not within the 100-year floodplain or within the 1,500-foot radius of other OHWM of state waters.
  • Isolated Ordinary High Water Mark Reaches: Reaches of state waters with an OHWM that are bordered upstream and downstream by uplands.

The general authorization for discharges to isolated state waters will not apply to discharges of dredge or fill material into the following state waters of significant value, including:

  • Fens or Peatlands: Wetlands with organic soil that are classified as histosols in the guidance document titled “Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States,” published by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.
  • Kettle Ponds: Lakes, ponds, or wetlands located in formerly glaciated landscapes, formed by ice blocks left by a retreating glacier.

Projects with unavoidable adverse impacts exceeding 1/10th (0.1) of an acre of wetlands or 3/100th  (0.03) of an acre of streambed are not eligible for coverage under the Isolated State Waters General Authorization. Projects with impacts above these thresholds require a different type of authorization (an individual permit or general authorization).

 

Prior to Jan. 1, 2025, the division used Clean Water Policy 17 to provide enforcement discretion for unpermitted dredge and fill activities in state waters. Projects that (1) provided notification to the division and (2) had a start date between July 6, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024, may proceed under the terms and conditions of Clean Water Policy 17. Projects that meet these criteria do not need to apply for a Temporary Authorization unless the project start date is changed to 2025.

  • Policy CW17: Enforcement of Unpermitted Discharges of Dredged and Fill Material into State Waters
  • Summary of Comments and Response: CW-17 Enforcement of Unpermitted Discharges of Dredged and Fill Material into State Water.

 

Questions regarding the division’s dredge and fill program can be directed to: