It's summer, which means many of Colorado's rivers are filling up with rafters! Clear Creek is known for its fun and exciting rapids, especially considering the short trip from the Front Range up to Idaho Springs, home to many outfitters. Something that many rafters may take for granted is the water they float through. It was not always so clear, or so clean, as it is today.
For much of its history, the area around Idaho Springs was known for its gold mines, not its white water; many mining and milling operations were adjacent to Clear Creek. Heavy metals and acidic water drained straight into it from mill and mine tailings, with little thought to how it might impact water quality. This changed in the 1970s, when the Clean Water Act and other Federal protections mandated standards for water quality, including treatment or mitigation of water flowing from or through mined areas. Today, waste rock piles like the one behind the rafters in the picture here are stabilized, treated, or relocated to keep the water clean.