WSP07480 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

O.olJJ43 , ... Memo to Dan Merriman and Randy Seaholm May 14, 2001 Page 2 of 3 Cycle II of the Upper Colorado NAWQA began in water year 2001. The NA WQA's focus for Cycle II has shifted, The USGS will increase emphasis on understanding water quality conditions and on trend assessment, but will decrease emphasis on status assessment. . Uncompahgre River Water Quality. Fred Fisher, a former USGS employee and a current fanner in the Uncompahgre Valley, provided an interesting presentation about ongoing activities for reducing selenium loading in local irrigation waterways. The majority of these activities are demonstration projects. The Selenium Task Force, in cooperation with the Water Quality Control Division, organizes and manages these projects, which are funded, in part, with the 319 money, Thus far, the Task Force has identified the sources of selenium loading by conducting water quality sampling in a number of waterways and collecting and analyzing a vast number of soil samples (between root zone and bedrock with help from the local NRCS office), The Task Force is currently arranging demonstration projects that include irrigation efficiency improvements, lateral lining/piping, and phytoremediation, In addition to laying pipes in old laterals and replacing irrigation ditches with gated pipe systems, the Task Force has begun using a sealant product called PAM as a potentially new and relatively inexpensive method of lateral lining. The banks and the bottom of the laterals are sprayed with PAM to reduce or prevent seepage (currently in trial and monitoring process), Both irrigation improvements and canal lining appear to have resulted in very favorable selenium loading reduction, Lastly, L~e Task Force has begun a t11rec-year project since 2001, demonstrating the use of trees to extract selenium from the soil (phytoremediation). Apparently, certain varieties of poplar can remove selenium from the soil, thus reducing selenium loading in drains and waterways, This project includes test plots of poplar, 19 monitoring wells, a number of water quality monitoring sites, and pre and post planting soil sampling. The Task Force is also looking into marketing the trees locally, . Water_Quality & National Park Service. The NPS is cooperating with the USGS in water quality data collection within the Gunnison River Basin, Water quality samples are collected on twenty-one stream and reservoir sites, two of which are within the NPS boundaries, It is important to mention that it is very likely that the NPS might request that the WQCC to revise use designations for some streams and reservoirs in the upcoming triennial reviews. The NPS will likely use the data from its water quality sampling program to justify such use designations, Considering current status of the quality of waters within the NPS boundaries, I suspect that the NPS may even propose designation of "Outstanding Waters" for certain tributaries, . Limnology of Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal Reservoirs. This was a USGS presentation about a one-season data collection to assess the current nutrient status and water temperature of each reservoir. Although some water quality data is available for Blue Mesa reservoir, data for Morrow Point and Crystal Reservoirs are very limited, This baseline data was collected from April to December of 1999, The estimated residence time for water in Blue Mesa Reservoir is seven months while water lasts only four to five weeks in Morrow Point Reservoir and one week in Crystal Reservoir. Water in Blue Mesa also has the biggest range of temperature variation (40-190C), Trend analysis for Blue Mesa showed no significant trend and no nutrient enrichment in the Reservoir. The USGS . will publish the report for this study in the near future, Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and Lake Protection Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning