Department of Public
Health ft Environment
San Juan Watershed Program
MARCH 2021
BACKGROUND
Water resources in the San Juan watershed, which encompasses'the San Juan and Animas Rivers and Lake,
Powell, are essential for providing drinking water for people and animals, recreating, growing crops, and
other cultural uses. Potential contamination sources within the watershed include historic mining activities
that disturbed the land and exacerbated naturally occurring levels of metals and mineralization. Other
contaminants include nutrients and bacteria from human or animal waste, or agricultural runoff.
From 2017 to 2021 under the Water SAN JUAN WATERSHED AND ENCOMPASSING RIVERS
Infrastructure Improvements for the
Nation (WIIN) Act, the U.S. Congress
has appropriated $4 million per year
to a long-term water quality program
for the San Juan watershed. Under
WIIN, and other legal authorities, EPA
and the states and tribes within the
watershed—Arizona, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, Navajo Nation, Ute
Mountain Ute Tribe, and Southern Ute
Indian Tribe—are working together to
monitor water quality, assess data and
literature, inform the public, and act
On identified water quality problems,.
San Juan River
Animas River
Ute Mountain Ute
Southern Ute
COLORADO
UTAH
Farmington, NM
Navajo Nation
ARIZONA
NEW MEXICO
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Identifying and funding that
implement on-the-ground
solutions to avoid or manage
existing water quality concerns
• Collaborating on opportunities
to build a successful, long-
term federal, state, and tribal
partnership that protects
the health of the San Juan
watershed for current and
future generations
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Developed watershed-wide monitoring plan
• Implemented ongoing, real-time monitoring
using sondes throughout the watershed
• Conducting watershed-wide monitoring
through 2021
• Undertaking scientific investigations
• Identifying opportunities for states and tribes
to collaborate and align monitoring activities
going forward
MONITOR water quality
throughout the watershed
ACT on identified water
quality problems using the
best data and science
ASSESS the best data and
literature to understand
data gaps, identify potential
water quality problems, and
identify actions to address
those problems
INFORM the public on the
condition of the watershed
relative to designated uses
\
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Assessed viability of current incident
notification system
• Developed program website and interactive
technical resources to communicate on
program activities and watershed condition
• Creating additional interactive products
to inform the public and other watershed
stakeholders on the health of the watershed
for agricultural, recreational, and drinking
water uses and for aquatic life
• Engaging with local groups to maximize and
leverage available resources
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Applying new and innovative cross-
watershed approaches for identifying
water quality standard exceedances
to inform monitoring and implantation
projects in the future
• Evaluating opportunities to apply
common pollutant criteria and
screening values across state and
tribal boundaries
• Assessing opportunities for using
real-time monitoring data to inform
emergency response actions and
long-term decisionmaking
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SAN JUAN WATERSHED PROGRAM PROJECTS
Purpose
Project
Use
Assess and evaluate existing water quality standards for water used for livestock and agricultural
irrigation to evaluate the; need for new or revised water quality standards (Navajo Nation).
Evaluate the effects of metals In the Animas and San Juan Rivers water On the-attainment of water
guality standards for livestock watering and crop irrigation (NMED).
Sample fish in the Animas and San Juan Riversto determine the presence of select metals,
organics, and emerging contaminants (Navajo Nation),
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Investigate the sources, and their contribution, of contaminants of concern in tributaries to the San
Juan River (Navajo Nation).
Evaluate the natural annual variability of benthic macroinvertebrates: in the Upper Animas River
and develop correlation relationships between benthic macroinveftebrate metrics and metals
exposure (CDPI-IE).
Assess water quality in the middle Animas .River Canyon to understand appropriate stream
segments for future water quality segmentation and standard Setting (CDPHE).
Identify and delineate the extent of cultural uses of Animas River waters to understand how
contaminants may affect tribal uses (SUIT).
W
Monitor
Evaluate connectivity between surface water and groundwater along the Animas Rivet (NMED and
CDPHE).
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Identify metals Or other constituents of concern in the Lake Farmington Reservoir sediment and
evaluate concentrations of deposited metals (NMED).
«
Conduct Lake Powell sediment coring study to better understand the concentration, loading,
distribution, bioavailability, and source of metals in the lake and evaluate impacts on water guality,
human health, and aquatic life (UDEQ).
Analyze Lake Powell porewater samples to determine bioavailability of metals in bottom water
environments of Lake Powell and the relationship between pediment and porewater chemistry
(UDEQ).
Maintain sondes throughout the watershed to provide real-time data that can inform management
decisions, including closure of drinking water intakes (EPA on behalf of states and tribes, CDPHE).
Deliver suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and total metal concentrations and loads in
near teal time using acoustic Doppler velocity meters (ADVMs) to correlate sound wavesto SSC.
Develop correlation between SSC and total metals to compute total loads to Lake Powell (UDEQ).
Use mobile sondes along the Animas River to relay data remotely via cell phone or satellite signal
to tribal servers for public;access via a website (SUIT).
Agriculture
Cultural
Drinking water
Keeieation
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Purpose
Project
Use
Collect water, sediment, and biological samples to better understand the condition of the
watershed (EPA on behalf of states and tribes):.
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Maintain stream gages to monitor four San Juan tributaries to better understand water guality, real-
time discharge, and how flows are informed by storm eventsand snowmelt (Navajo Nation).
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Conduct detailed geochemical analyses to understand sources of nitrate and other nitrogen
species in the watershed and understand how to better manage these sources (NMED).
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Conduct monitoring to determine sources of elevated aluminum in the Florida and Animas Rivers
(SUIT).
Collect fish tissue and benthic macrOinvertebrate samples to understand whether b i oa.cc u rn u I at i o n
of metals and certain organic compounds is occurring in the AnimasRiver, and how it is affecting
the river ecosystem (SUIT).
4s **
Assess nutrient contributions from the Florida River to the Animas River (SUIT).
^ ^
Develop a San Juan Watershed Assessment and Information Synthesis based on information
available to date (EPA).
4§* ^
Assess
Evaluate a watershed-wide modeling effort in the-San Juan River drainage to provide a framework
to identify areas of importance for resource prioritization and implementation of best management
options to restore water guality. UDEQ and EPA determined that at this time, it is not necessary to
develop a watershed-wide model (UDEQ).
^ 40
Conduct a feasibility planning study to evaluate potential courses of action (e.g., real-time
monitoring or treatment) in response to future release events in the Animas River headwaters and
identify necessary updates to the Tribe's Emergency Action Plan (SUIT).
# 40
Develop the EPA Program website, factsheets, resource library, and other comprehensive outreach
materials to support the Program, and EPA (EPA).
Develop UDEQ Program website (UDEQ).
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Develop a San Juan Watershed Assessment and Information Synthesis based on information
available to date to communicate watershed condition relative to designated use (EPA).
Establish and support a Silverton, CO-based communications and outreach liaison position
(CDPHE).
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Support the Water Resources Research Institute in New Mexico in the development and execution
of the 2018,2019, and 2020 annual conferences on the San Juan Watershed (NMED).
Develop a public relations strategy and communicate the benefits of buying locally grown produce
to stakeholders in the watershed through (NMED).
Explore the convening of a possible watershed group(s) to lead the San Juan Watershed Program
at the end of WIIN Act funding (UDEQ).
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Close an abandoned well that is contributing high concentrations of salts and elevated levels of
arsenic to the San Juan River (Navajo Nation).
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Agriculture
Aquatic life;
Cultural
Drinking water
Recreation
EPA 841-F-21-002
MARCH 2021
https://www.epa.gov/sanjuanwatershed
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