Water Quality Monitoring

Across the nation, there is a surprising lack of data on the levels of pollution in our rivers and streams. Policy decisions are made every day without any data to inform them. We monitor our local watershed through River Watch and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment.

The goal of RiverWatch is to acquire that data so that policy makers have the information they need to make good decisions.

RiverWatch of Colorado is a statewide volunteer water quality-monitoring program operated in partnership between River Science and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). The River Watch mission is to work with voluntary stewards to monitor water quality and other indicators of watershed health and utilize this high-quality data to educate communities and inform decision-makers about the condition of Colorado’s waters. This program is unique in its statewide focus and frequency of data collection.

GARNA volunteers, in partnership with others from Trout Unlimited and Crest Academy, perform monthly water quality sampling at fourteen River Watch sites along the Arkansas River and its major tributaries. Volunteers collect samples and analyze them for a variety of critical water quality parameters, including:

• Temperature
• pH
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Hardness
• Alkalinity

Additional samples are sent to the CPW lab to be tested for heavy metals and organic nutrient loads. Aquatic macroinvertebrate samples are collected annually. The quantity and diversity of these indicator species gives a picture of overall river health.