Water sampling will take place in Mesa County second week of December

Mesa County, in collaboration with SGM, will conduct water sampling activities across the Grand Valley during the week of Dec. 8 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, Leach Creek, and Lewis Wash. The majority of sampling will be conducted in the public right-of-way, with a few locations on private property, and landowner coordination is complete. 

The team will assess various analytes, including E. coli, dissolved selenium, total recoverable iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus, as well as field parameters. 

The water sampling efforts are in response to a Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) that 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 to stay current with MS4 permit renewals and develop best management practices to help reduce water quality constituents that are not meeting State water quality standards.

This work helps us stay ahead of regulatory requirements by gaining a clearer understanding of these systems and identifying opportunities to improve water quality.