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What is quality of the water in the county?
The United States Geological Service (USGS) identifies major watersheds by location. These locations can be classified by county. For example the dominant watershed in Routt County is the Upper Yampa Watershed. For the purpose of the Index, the dominant watershed in each county was selected. The USGS data also provides the total number stream and river miles within the watershed.

Every two years The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does a water quality assessment of the watershed. The data available as a result of this assessment reports on pollutants such as heavy metals, biohazard waste, and sediment. If the stream/river exceeds the EPA's established standards river segments is listed by the EPA as threatened or impaired. The Index calculates a ratio of number of stream/river miles listed as threatened or impaired to the total stream/river miles in the watershed. This data enables the tracking of changes over time for streams/rivers within each county that have quality issues. (This measurement is only update every two years.)

General Observations:
La Plata County has the highest ratio of EPA Impaired listed waters. Over the reporting period, however, there has been no decrease on increase of impaired watershed miles. Grand and Garfield counties both saw significant improvements in water quality since the baseline was established in 2006.
Routt County Observations:
Routt County increased in rank from 5th to 8th. Routt County saw the largest rate of increase since the baseline was established in 2006. In Routt County, the increase in the number of miles listed by the EPA as impaired is because the entire Elk River watershed was listed for E-coli contamination. Fortunately this water quality issue is relatively easy to address through changes in livestock practices.