Clean water is something that everyone and every business needs. Whether you are running a brewery, manufacturing plant or outdoor retail store and fly-fishing outfitter near some of Colorado’s best Gold Medal fishing – when our water sources are contaminated, all enterprises suffer.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hope to restore some of the Clean Water Act’s most important tasks – protecting headwater streams all across Colorado and the nation. By restoring protections to our small headwater streams and wetlands, these two agencies are essentially protecting the streams that provide vital spawning and rearing habitat for trout and salmon, as well as downstream water supplies. It’s common sense: if you want to protect downstream waters, you can’t pollute the upstream feeders that flow into them. And let’s not forget the connection these small waters have with quality fishing.

The Clean Water Act was passed by Congress in 1972 to eliminate the releases of high amounts of toxic substances into America’s waterways. For years, these protections were broadly applied to include small headwater streams, some of which might even run dry at certain times of the year. Unfortunately, Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 rolled back protections and created a great deal of uncertainty and confusion about which waterways can or cannot benefit from federal protection.

For nearly a decade, members of Congress, state and local officials, industry, agriculture, and business owners have been asking the administration to provide the needed clarity. Finally, on March 25, the Obama administration proposed a rule, Waters of the U.S., which assures Clean Water Act protections for headwater streams and wetlands, which are connected to and have significant impacts on downstream waterways and provide wildlife habitat as well as high-quality hunting and fishing.

Thanks to some common-sense input from farmers and ranchers, the proposed rule also maintains exemptions for agricultural operations such as crop irrigation, garnering praise from the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, among others.

This certainty is good for business. Hunting and fishing alone is about a $2 billion economic driver in Colorado. Outdoor recreation overall in Colorado exceeds $13 billion annually, including supporting 125,000 Colorado jobs, $4.2 billion in wages and salaries, and $994 million in state and local tax revenue. The future of this industry depends upon clean water. As U.S. Sen. Mark Udall has said, “All of Colorado needs secure supplies of clean water.”

Indeed we do. Thanks to the EPA and Army Corps, we may finally have clean water supplies we can count on. The agencies are now launching an extensive outreach effort to gather a full spectrum of input to help shape a strong final rule. Our businesses and outdoor way of life depend on it.

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David Leinweber is owner/president of Anglers Covey Inc. in Colorado Springs.

Angler’s Covey learn to flyfish event.