Water Quality
A Commitment to the Health of the Poudre River
In January 2020, the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved Northern Water’s application for what is known as a 401 Water Quality Certification. Following a long period of careful study and monitoring, along with a robust process to incorporate public input, this certification found the commitments for mitigation and water quality improvement measures are sufficient to result in positive net effects such that significant degradation will not occur. The 401 Certification includes 30 conditions that encompass commitments to water quality and aquatic life monitoring, adaptive management, and regional coordination and water quality-focused mitigation projects.
The 401 certification comes as part of extensive monitoring efforts by Northern Water over many years. Since 2015, Northern Water has collected hundreds of samples each year, investing approximately $450,000 annually into the Poudre River monitoring program. Today these efforts continue and include data collection and monitoring along the Poudre River and water quality and temperature modeling. The data help to evaluate possible changes in water quality associated with new water projects such as NISP and support evaluation of the effectiveness of enhancement and mitigation measures.