Water Quality of Fountain and Monument Creeks

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standards for the stream. Concentrations of dissolved manganese and total - recoverable nickel and silver increased just downstream from the Colorado Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant effluent. Of these trace elements, only dissolved- manganese concentrations exceeded the water - quality standard for Lower Fountain Creek. Concentrations of dissolved iron, total selenium, and total - recoverable copper and lead exceeded the water - quality standards for Lower Fountain Creek at the downstream sites. Water - quality data collected on Upper Monument Creek from 1977 through 1980 indicate that Upper Monument Creek is a well - oxygenated stream and has a small 5 -day biochemical oxygen demand, small concentrations of dissolved and suspended solids, total ammonia, total nitrite plus nitrate, and trace elements. Five -day biochemical oxygen demand and concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, dissolved chloride, dissolved sulfate, and total nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen frequently increased downstream but generally remained less than the water - quality standards. Concentrations of total - recoverable copper, iron, lead, manganese, and zinc frequently increased downstream and, with the exception of manganese, frequently exceeded the water - quality standards. INTRODUCTION Fountain and Monument Creeks originate in the Rampart Range northwest of Colorado Springs (fig. 1). As the streams flow from the mountains, the flows are affected by storage reservoirs, power developments, diversions for irri- gation, municipal use, irrigation- return flows, discharge from wastewater - treatment plants, and ground -water discharge. These activities also may affect water quality. The water quality of Fountain and Monument Creeks has been monitored since 1975 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Colorado Springs Department of Utilities and the Lower Fountain Water - Quality Management Association. This monitoring was part of a study to develop a water - quality data base for use by local agencies in the develop- ment of an areawide water - quality management plan. During 1982, the State of Colorado adopted regulations that established basic standards, an antidegradation standard, and a system for classifying and assigning numeric water - quality standards to State waters, including Fountain and Monument Creeks (Colorado Department of Health, 1982). As a result of the stream - classification process, Fountain and Monument Creeks were divided into stream segments based on beneficial -use categories. Most of the water - quality constituents monitored during the study have numeric water - quality standards and were evaluated according to those standards. Purpose and Scope The purpose of this report is to describe the general water- quality characteristics of Fountain and Monument Creeks (fig. 1) and to evaluate the water quality of each stream segment, with emphasis on evaluating the quality of water as it pertains to the numeric water - quality standards established by the Colorado Department of Health (1982) for the stream segments. Selected 2