Douglas County, CO Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Part 31 of the Zoning Resolution, Clearing, Grading and Land Disturbance, makes the GESC Manual mandatory rather than advisory: § 1-3101 states its intent is to control non-point-source pollution and protect water quality by requiring soil erosion and sediment control practices that comply with the Manual, which the county incorporates by reference into the code itself. That Manual implements both the GESC Permit Program and the separate Drainage, Erosion, and Sediment Control (DESC) Permit Program. The county did not write these programs in isolation: § 1-3101(2) ties their development, implementation, and enforcement directly to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Stormwater Regulations under the federal Clean Water Act, the Colorado Discharge Permit System Regulation No.

61, and two additional state regulations aimed specifically at the Cherry Creek Reservoir (No. 72) and the Chatfield Reservoir (No. 73) watersheds. § 1-3103 then sets the operative rule in a single sentence: all clearing, grading, and land disturbance must comply with the GESC Manual's requirements. A related repealed section, Part 31A, confirms that older single-family-specific drainage and erosion requirements were folded into the GESC Manual as of November 12, 2013, so the Manual is now the sole technical standard rather than one of several documents builders must reconcile.