San Juan Watershed Program

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 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—have worked together to
assess, protect, and restore watershed
condition.

To date, EPA has allocated nearly $18.9
million in funding to support efforts to
monitor water quality, assess data and
literature, inform the public, and act on
identified water quality problems.

Collaboration and Capacity Building

Every year, EPA, state, and tribal decisionmakers have worked together since program initiation to establish
priorities, assess program accomplishments, communicate the outcomes of funded projects, and identify how
resources can be applied with maximum benefit. Stakeholders have also worked together to build state and tribal
capacity to continue collaborative, cross-watershed efforts into the future, including developing a watershed-

San Juan River

Animas River

Southern Ute

3o well/,

.Navajo Lake•

COLORADO

UTAH

Farmington, NM

Navajo Nation

NEW MEXICO

ARIZONA

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wide monitoring plan, establishing relationships with local organizations
throughout the watershed to leverage funding and resources, and meeting
regularly to discuss needs and opportunities.

Evolution and Innovation

Since 2017, EPA, states, tribes, and other partners have used WIIN
funding to continue and expand monitoring efforts, assess existing and
new data and literature, inform the public on watershed condition, and
act on identified problems. As the program has matured, funding has
been increasingly focused on generating on the ground water quality
improvements.

M

Utah





$2,677,714



Southern Ute Tribe
$2,877,664



Ute Mountain Ute Tribe





$1,196,406





Navajo Nation





$3,322,034

A



Allocated
$18.9 million in
funding to
support
monitoring,
data analysis,
public outreach,
and on the
ground action
to improve
water quality.

k.

Assessed data
gaps and
existing
watershed
plans and
designed
projects to
meet identified
needs.

i\ i/

Communicated
watershed
condition and status
and outcomes of
funded projects to
the public through
conferences,
webinars, and
interactive
resources and
tools.

Through state and
tribal funding
recipients, engaged
over 10 federal,
tribal, state,
university,

non-profit, and other
organizations in the
watershed to support
monitoring, research,
restoration, and
outreach.

Collaborated
across state and
tribal boundaries
to build a
framework for
long-term
partnerships from
the headwaters of
the Animas River
to Lake Powell.

EPA 841-F-22-002

JUNE 2022

https://www.epa.qov/saniuanwatershed

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