Watershed Baseline Study: Municipal Watersheds
Mesa County, Colorado
Western Water & Land developed and implemented a surface-water baseline study of source waters in one of Colorado’s pristine watersheds. The project was initiated as a result of potential oil and gas development on Grand Mesa within the watersheds two municipalities. The main components included initial field reconnaissance and source water inventory; stream discharge measurements; field sampling of selected surface-water sites; development and management of a water quality database; the development and preparation of a Watershed Monitoring Plan; and contributions to a community-based “Watershed Plan” joint prepared by the U.S. BLM, U.S. F.S., Mesa County, the Town of Palisade, the City of Grand Junction, and others. The final report focused on the development of a conceptual hydrogeologic model based on the baseline hydrochemistry and field mapping; and the delineation of hydrologic sensitive areas. Since completion of the baseline program, Western Water & Land has continued annual monitoring of flow conditions and water quality within the watershed to identify changes in the hydrologic regime in the basin.
Mesa County, Colorado
Western Water & Land developed and implemented a surface-water baseline study of source waters in one of Colorado’s pristine watersheds. The project was initiated as a result of potential oil and gas development on Grand Mesa within the watersheds two municipalities. The main components included initial field reconnaissance and source water inventory; stream discharge measurements; field sampling of selected surface-water sites; development and management of a water quality database; the development and preparation of a Watershed Monitoring Plan; and contributions to a community-based “Watershed Plan” joint prepared by the U.S. BLM, U.S. F.S., Mesa County, the Town of Palisade, the City of Grand Junction, and others. The final report focused on the development of a conceptual hydrogeologic model based on the baseline hydrochemistry and field mapping; and the delineation of hydrologic sensitive areas. Since completion of the baseline program, Western Water & Land has continued annual monitoring of flow conditions and water quality within the watershed to identify changes in the hydrologic regime in the basin.