Blue River Water Quality

Municipal water is effectively treated and not a water quality concern in the Blue River Watershed.

In 1974, the Colorado Department of Health extensively evaluated problems in the Blue River Watershed as part of the Blue River Basin 303(e) Plan. The plan addressed matters such as:

• point-source treatment needs;
• consolidation of wastewater treatment facilities;
• waste load allocations;
• treatment alternatives.

The principal problems included the need for phosphorus removal capability at wastewater treatment facilities to protect Dillon and Green Mountain Reservoirs from accelerated eutrophication and the feasible extent of providing service to relatively rural parts of the basin.

Since the adoption of the basin plan in 1974 and the 1978 version of the 208 Plan, the development of wastewater treatment facilities has generally proceeded in accordance with its recommendations. Facility plans under Section 201 of the Clean Water Act have defined the precise treatment mechanisms and locations for wastewater treatment and have implemented the recommendations of both the 208 and basin plans.

The major nonpoint source water quality issues in streams and lakes in the Blue River watershed include:

• the effects of both existing and inactive mining activities;
• urban and construction activities (including septic systems);
• agricultural activities (specifically silvicultural);
• hydrologic modifications.