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Animas/San Juan River Monitoring Under the WIIN Program: Watershed Scale Patterns of Water Quality Related to Metals and Nutrients
Citation:
Sullivan, K. Animas/San Juan River Monitoring Under the WIIN Program: Watershed Scale Patterns of Water Quality Related to Metals and Nutrients. 2023 Animas and San Juan Watersheds Conference, Farmington, NM, June 21 - 22, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act) allocated five years of funding to States and Tribes following the Gold King Release (administered by EPA). Visit: epa.gov/sanjuanwatershedsto learn more about current and completed projects.
Description:
The Animas and San Juan Rivers were extensively monitored for metals in the water and sediments by EPA, state and tribal agencies during and through the year following the Gold King Mine release that occurred in August 2015. Congress funded additional water quality monitoring along the length of the impacted river and expanded scientific study within the San Juan River watershed for 5 years through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) beginning in 2018. Numerous scientific studies and monitoring projects were initiated with the goal to improve understanding of watershed processes, pollutant sources and sinks within the river, tributaries, and receiving water bodies. The program also expanded water quality monitoring to nutrients and other chemical constituents and funded installation of sondes at USGS gages. This talk will summarize some of the key observations of water quality related to metals and nutrients during the past five years with emphasis on basin scale patterns and river processes.
