HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/11/2022 - Memorandum From Jared Heath Re: 2022 Summer Water Quality Update - Upper Cache La Poudre Watershed
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700 Wood Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
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utilities@fcgov.com
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M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: September 29, 2022
TO: Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers
FROM: Jared Heath, Senior Watershed Specialist
THROUGH: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Kendall Minor, Utilities Executive Director
RE: 2022 Summer Water Quality Update Upper Cache la Poudre Watershed
Bottom Line:
The Upper Cache la Poudre (CLP) Watershed Collaborative Water Quality Monitoring Program
is a partnership between the cities of Fort Collins, Greeley, Thornton, and Soldier Canyon
Drinking Water Authority. The goal of this shared monitoring effort is to assist the participants
in meeting current and future drinking water treatment goals by reporting current water quality
conditions and trends within the Upper CLP watershed. The attached water quality update
provides a summary of temperature, snowpack, streamflow, and water quality conditions
monitored in the Upper CLP watershed during the 2022 spring season.
Background:
The seasonal water quality updates are designed to inform the Upper CLP Watershed
Collaborative Monitoring Program partners, their customers, and other community stakeholders
about the condition of our source watershed and the quality of the raw CLP River drinking water
supply. This seasonal reporting effort began in 2015 to provide a succinct and timely summary
of current-year conditions in the Upper CLP Watershed. Seasonal updates are published for the
spring, summer, and fall seasons. In depth water quality reporting is done through annual and
five-year technical reports. Water quality reports and seasonal updates are made publicly
available on the Fort Collins Utilities website, fcgov.com /source-water-monitoring.
Summer 2022 Highlights:
Summer water quality monitoring captures water quality conditions during peak snowmelt runoff
and the receding streamflow that follows through the summer monsoon season. Water quality
conditions vary with changes in elevation, hydrologic and weather conditions, and other potential
watershed impacts. The Upper CLP watershed experienced above average air temperatures and
near average precipitation over the summer 2022 season. Air temperature was 2.6 degrees
Fahrenheit warmer than average and ranked as the ninth warmest summer on record.
Precipitation measured near average over the summer season and drought conditions improved
across much of the Upper CLP watershed. Streamflow in the Poudre River near the canyon
mouth measured below average over the duration of the summer season; however, peak
streamflow measured well above average. Water quality indicators measured at key long-term
monitoring sites along the CLP River were within the range of values observed over the baseline
period of record (2008 2012) suggesting normal water quality conditions over the summer
season. In several instances, precipitation events over the Cameron Peak burn scar severely
impacted water quality and required the water treatment plant to shut down their Poudre River
raw water intake for an extended period. Real-time water quality meters installed upstream of
the City s Poudre River raw water intake detected these events and provided staff with early
warning to effectively respond and minimize impacts to the City s drinking water quality.
CC: Jason Graham, Director of Water Utilities
Jill Oropeza, Water Quality Services Director, Utilities
Richard Thorp, Watershed Program Manager, Utilities
Water Commission
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