(1) protect and enhance the quality, character and usefulness of its surface waters and to assure the public health;

(2) maintain the purity of drinking water;

(3) control the discharge of wastes to the waters of the State, prevent degradation of high quality waters and prevent, abate or control all activities harmful to water quality;

(4) assure the maintenance of water quality necessary to sustain existing aquatic communities;

(5) provide clear, consistent, and enforceable standards for the permitting and management of discharges;

(6) protect from risk and preserve in their natural state certain high quality waters, including fragile high-altitude waters, and the ecosystems they sustain;

(7) manage the waters of the State to promote a healthy and prosperous agricultural community; to increase the opportunities for use of the State's forest, park, and recreational facilities; and to allow beneficial and environmentally sound development; and

(8) seek over the long term to upgrade the quality of waters and to reduce existing risks to water quality. (Added 1985, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 17, 1986; amended 2019, No. 14, § 30, eff. April 30, 2019.)