Water sampling in Mesa County will take place second week of August
Mesa County, in collaboration with SGM, will conduct water sampling activities across the Grand Valley during the second week of August to better understand the current water conditions coming from the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) and the stream segments.
You may see a team collecting water samples at the following locations: Big Salt Wash, Little Salt Wash, Leach Creek and Adobe Creek. The team will assess various analytes, including E. coli, dissolved selenium, total recoverable iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus, along with field parameters.
The water sampling efforts are in response to a Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) the Grand Valley has for impaired stream segments north of the Colorado River.
The TMDLs are set by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Water Quality Control Division (WQCD) and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These TMDLs require water quality sampling requirements as part of Mesa County’s upcoming Standard MS4 Permit Renewal.
The approval of the sixth amendment of the 2022 agreement for monitoring took place at the Aug. 5 public hearing.
Additional sampling events will continue later in the year.
Since the original agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey in 2022, it has been identified that additional testing is needed on an annual basis to better understand Total Maximum Daily Loads and microbial source tracking for Adobe and Leach Creek. After 2026, the data set will represent several years of sample collection, and data analysis will be completed in 2027. A USGS Scientific Investigation Report will be published to summarize the findings of the study.
Contact for more information:
SGM Project Manager
Angie Fowler
