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<br />Quality of Ground Water <br />In general, ground-water quality in Colorado ranges <br />from excellent in fractured granitic aquifers in <br />mountain areas where snow fall is heavy, to poor in <br />alluvial aquifers of major rivers where surfllCe and <br />ground water afe used ana 1\ .used for multiple pur- <br />poses. Shallow, unconfined aquifers afe susceptible to <br />contamination from surCtce:: activities. Many have <br />become contaminated, especially with nitrate and <br />salts resulting from agricultural activities and urban <br />development. This is particularly true along the <br />South Platte downstream of Denver, Deeper bedrock <br />aquifers tend to show higher levels of natural miner- <br />ai constituents, slIch as salts, but lower levels of con- <br />taminants related to SUrGlCt' activities, especially if <br />they are confined under impermeable formations. <br /> <br />Quality of Drinking Water <br /> <br />Public health concerns pertaining to drinking water <br />derived from SUrhlCe water supplies include microbi- <br />ological pathogens, Stich as bacteria, viruses, giardia <br />and crypto sporidium. <br /> <br />W1ter-qualiry (bta from public systems supplied by <br />ground water indic:tte the most common contaminants <br />in the state are nitrate, fluoride, selenium, iron, man- <br />ganese, alpha radiation and uranium. Mining has con- <br /> <br />taminated some areas of ground water with heavy met- <br /><lIs and radionudides. In mountainous areas underlain <br />by fractured crystalline rock and in alluvial valleys, rapid <br />development relying, on individual sewage disposal sys- <br />tems has increased the threat of nitrates and pathogens <br />in ground water used for public water systems. <br /> <br />Water-Quality Management <br /> <br />Colorado's water-quality management system COll- <br />sists of two significant components: <br /> <br />a policy-making component provided by the <br />Colorado Water Quality Control <br />Commission and the Colorado Board of <br />Health, which establish policies and ruies <br />pertaining to water-quality management that <br />are consistent with the broader policy <br />embodied in state iaws <br /> <br />a program-implementation component provided <br />by the Colorado Department of Health <br />and Environment, Water Quality Control <br />Division, which carries out water-quality <br />programs on a day-to-day basis within the <br />statutory and regulatory framework <br /> <br />The conunission and board each cons.ist of nine <br />members with appropriate <br />backgrounds to carry out their <br />crucial policy-making roles. <br />Commission and board mem- <br />bers are appointed by the gov- <br />ernor and confirmed by the <br />Colorado Senate. A key func- <br />tion of the commission, among <br />many others, is establishing <br />water-quality standards for all <br />the state's waters. The board <br />promulgates Colorado's pri- <br />mary drinking water standards, <br />regulations concerning public <br />water systems and regulations <br />pertaining co individual <br />sewage-disposal systems. <br /> <br />Nitrite + Nitrate levels at 4 !,oints alonll the South Platte River <br />10 - measured In parts per million <br /> <br />. - <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />. <br />Below <br />Chatfield <br /> <br />Kersey <br /> <br />l'hhSt <br /> <br />Henderson <br /> <br />Key <br /> <br />moX. level <br /> <br />85th percentile <br /> <br />median <br /> <br />15th percentile <br /> <br />min.level <br /> <br />Jrinking and agr/cUlt ?-,slng ov. . 419 000 people. COf leaving COlor <br />Ural "'? I,.....?- ad, n the COI <br />use, eneO 1<, <5'. 0 flows throl.l'6 Orado R/ver system (9,097,000 acre I <br />~o <br />." <br />87% pere <br />