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WATER QUALITY CONTROL CO {'y
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• 'JUL 151985
NOTICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL fi C GREELLY,•coLg,
BEFORE THE
COLORADO WATER QUALITY CONTROL COMMISSION '
SUBJECT:
For consideration of adoption of the 1985 areawide Water Quality
Management Plan Update for Larimer and Weld Counties.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENCOURAGED:
The Commission encourages all interested perLoa_ to provide their
opinions or data concerning the proposed plan update orally or in
writing at the date, time and location indicated below:
DATE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1985
TIME: 10:30 A.M.
PLACE: ROOM 150
COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUILDING
4210 EAST 11TH AVENUE
DENVER, COLORADO
PURPOSE OF HEARING:
The Federal Clean Water Act requires that areawide waste treatment
management plans be prepared for all regions of the State. At this
hearing the Commission shall approve, conditionally approve, or reject
the plan submitted by the Larimer-Weld Regional Council of Governments
(LWRCOG) . An executive summary of the plan is attached to this Notice.
The Update is a compilation of current water quality information in the
LWRCOG planning area. Its purpose is to incorporate all changes in the
status of water quality management and all new information which has
become available since the orig_nal areawide plan was adopted in 1978.
It is meant to be the current working document for water quality
control in the region with portions of the original plan where it is
still applicable. The planning concentrated on portraying current
conditions and attitudes related to water quality protection and on the
perceived needs of the area and its citizens. Of primary concern was
the protection of the good quality waters present in the region and the
beneficial uses of those resources.
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851224
4210 EAST 11TH AVENUE DENVER,COL ORADO 80220 PHONE (303) 320-8333
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NOTICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL HEARING - rage 2
Larimer-Weld Regional Council of Governments - 1985 208 Plan Update
SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
The provisions of Section 25-8-105; 25-8-202(1)(h); 25-8-401(1);
25-8-503(2); and 25-8-702(2)(a) , C.R.S. provide the specific statutory
authority for consideration of the plan apdate proposed by this Notice.
A rulemaking hearing is not being held because the plan update is being
considered only as a statement of policy, and is not intended to be
binding as regulations.
P.CCLDU7AL AUTHORITY FOR PUBLIC HEARING:
The provisions of Section 24-4-133, C.R.S. ; the "Procedural Regulations
for ell Proceedings before the Water Quality Control Commission and the
Water Quality Control Division" (the Procedural Regulations) (5 CCR
1002-1); and the Commission' s current "Regulations fur State of
Colorado Continuing Planning Process" contained in Section 5.4.0 of
Article 5, Regulations of General Applicability, of the Policies,
Regulations, and Guidelines of the Water Quality Control Commission (5
C!,'2 1002-14) provide the procedural authority for this hearing.
This hearing may be reconvened at such time and place as the Commission
may announce.
PARTY STATUS:
Since the purpose of this hearing is to consider non-rulemaking
amendments to a regional wastewater management plan in accordance with
25-8-105(3)(a) , C.R.S. rather than as regulations, party status
requests will be neither required nor considered.
The purpose of this hearing is to provide opportunity for interested
persons to submit written and oral data, views end comments on the
plan. Written statements may be presented prior to and at the
hearing. It is proposed that no additional statements will be received
after the close of the hearing; ho.;ever, if there is justifia +le
reason, as determined by the Commission, the Commission may choose to
leave the record open for an additional period of Lime_. Tie hearing
will remain open until ail persons present and desiring to nave
statements have been heard.
PROCEDURAL MATTERS:
The Commission, after notice and hearing, shall approve, conditionally
approve, or reject a plan or an amendment developed by a management or
planning agency within one hundred eighty (180) days after submittal of
the plan or amendment by the management or planning agency to the
Areawide Water Quality Management Plan 198b Update
Larimer-Weld Regional Council of Governments
Summary
The management strategy for i -;lementing the plan is discussed in Chapter
III. Section 1 provides an analysis of institutional arrangements tnat
were proposed in the 1978 plan and updates those arrangements to be
consistent with the process that is now in effect. Types of water
auaiity problems which can be controlled by institutional solutions are
listed in Section 111.2. Activities potentially causing problems include
use of septic tanks, proliferation of small treatment plants, ownership
of plants by home-owner's associations, improper disposal of solid and
iicuid wastes to land, storm runoff from densely developed areas, and
land disturbance which causes accelerated erosion and sedimentation.
Although the current institutional structure is less formal than what was
envisioned by the original plan, the system is more practical in that it
allows a degree of flexibility which can be adapted by different entities
to fit a particular situation. Additional proposed activities which are
being considered or implemented include a lock at planning for
regionalization of facilities in areas where feasible, and cooperative
efforts between local planning departments aid the regional planning
agency to allow a regional perspective to be incorporated into the
project approval process.
The final recommendation of Chapter III, =n Section III .6, is that the
previously designated ana approved management and operating agencies be
approved to continue in their respective capacities. Those management
agencies which were approved conditioned upon their acceptance of the
responsibility but which have taken no Jction to do so are recommended
For conditional designation again. Thi respective County Commission
remains the responsible :5anagement agency for those areas until that
acceptance takes place.
Chapter IV sets forth the upf)ted recional population projections for the
next 20 years. The total of the com'.iuni ty di sagregati ons for each county
was compared with the most current EPA/BEA projections and those of the
State Demographer for the counties. The projecter: county totals were
less than the EPA/UEA figures nor ;.000 and between the low and medium
growth rate projections of the State it almost every case. The
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NOTICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL HEARING - Page 3
Larimer-Weld Regional Council of Governments - 1985 208 Plan Update
Division. Only those portions of a regional wastewater management plan
which are adopted as a regulation by the Commission pursuant to Section
24-4-103, C.R.S. shall be binding on regulatory decisions, including,
but not limited to, site approvals, construction grants, point or
non-point source control decisions, or for purposes of any Federal law,
regulation, or action. No regulations are proposed at this time as
part of this hearing.
The Commission may take two separate actions on this update. The first
is to consider approving the update. That decision will be made after
this hearing. Commission approval constitutes State approval. In
making its approval decision, the Commission will consider all
recommended conditions and comments relating to the plan including
those from the public, LWRCOG, and State agencies. The second action
that the Commission may take at soma point in the future is adopting
part of the plan as control regulations. Such action shall be by
public hearing preceded by at least 60 days notice.
The approval may be conditioned so that only parts of the plan are
accepted; other parts may be accepted in the future; for example, if
certain changes are made. Any approval may also be subject to :annual
review and update.
If the Commission makes an approval decision, the update will go to the
Governor for his determination of whether to certify it to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency and if the Governor certifies
the proposed extension of the Clean Water Plan for a State Planning and
Management Region he will submit it to the EPA and the EPA will make
the final decision as to whether the requirements of the Federal law
are met.
Copies of the plan are available for review in the Office of the
Administrator, Water Quality Control Commission, Room 319, 4210 East
llth Avenue, Denver, Colorado, and in the offices of the Larimer-Weld
Regional Council of Governments, 873 North Cleveland Avenue, Loveiand,
CO 80537.
DATED his 1st day of July, 1985 , at Denver, Colorado.
WATER QUALITY CONTROL COMMISSION
//6/' //' /-)1'
ALAN M. STEWART, AICP
ADMINISTRATOR
AMS:mds
Attachment
figures for 2005 are 314,515 for Larimer County as compared with the
State''s medium growth rate figure of 313,100 and 233,600 for Weld County
as compared with 244,000 projected by the State for medium growth.
Chapter V, Water Quality Assessment, is the backbone of the plan update
and contains most of the technical information which was developed. It
is divided into sections on hydrology, classifications and standards,
monitoring, water quality data, biological data, evaluation of water
quality, and recommendations concerning classifications and standards and
their relationship to permits. Most of this information has been
gathered since 1978 when the original plan was adopted, and it forms the
basis for either supporting existing policies or recommending
modifications or additions to those policies.
The hydrology section outlines information on the management of the
rivers and water projects in the different basins, and it provides the
basis for understanding the effects of that water management process and
the use of the waters on water quality and beneficial uses. Section V.3
describes the ongoing monitoring programs in the area, identing the
monitoring entities, stations, constituents, and frequency of sampling.
In the Water Quality Data Analysis (Section V.4) sources of data are
descr;bed and methods of analysis indicated. A period of record from
1979-1983 was selected for review. The parameters selected for analysis EE
were either those for which there are existing standards, those that are
general indicators of water duality, or those that have synergistic
relationship with other parameters. They included some or all of the
following on the various segments: dissolved oxygen, pH, fecal coliform,
cyanide, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, chloride, sulfate, cadmium, copper,
silver, nickel , lead, iron, manganese, chromium, zinc, temperature,
hardness, specific conductance, total dissolved solids, and flow.
Special attention was given to parameters in segments that were given a
threatened or impaired designation by the State Health Department.
The biological data analysis described in Section V.5 is a very important 1
part of the overall water quality evaluation because it illustrates the
extent of use protection. The fish and the benthic macroin'ierteorate
communities are the two resident groups which are generally considered to
be the most suitable organisms for evaluation of the overall aquatic
environment integrity, and they are therefore the communities which are
monitored and analyzed in the region.
For the macroinvertebrate communities a comparison is made of plots of
the benthic diversity versus time it different stations and versus
distance downstream for seasonal sampling periods in successive years.
These comparisons do not reveal any specific trends in the diversity
either up or down, but the values essentially vary between 1 and 3 for
the different seasons and at the different sampling locations. This
relatively even variation both seasonally and spacially indicates that
although fluctuations in the aquatic community may be substantial at
times, they are probably due to major hydrologic changes and will revert
to a similar state when conditions stabilize. The inference can
therefore be made that the aquatic cumciunity has not been significantly
impacted during this monitoring period.
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Fish data analyzed fo, each site included the number ac fish, number of
species, total biomass of all fish in each sample, and the average weight
per individual fish. The numbers of species found at the various
stations on the different sampling dates do not vary substantially, and
the range of median values for all locations is between 9 and 11 . The
large variations in numbers of fish and biomass are evidently more
related to changes in habitat and high flow variations than they are to
impacts of pollutants.
In Section V.6 is a summary of the water quality and biological data
anaTyses contained in Sections V.4 and V. 5. The water quality data is
then evaluated with respect to the adopted State standards, and the
biologic evaluation discusses factors affecting the aeuatic biology
communities in the streams. A table is included for each of the segments
monitored, summarizing the water quality standards, classified uses, and
comments regarding the record of standard compliance for the constituents
with data analyzed.
The final section of Chapter V, Section V.7, contains the plan
recommendations on classifications, star,lards, and protection of uses;
and the criteria used in deriving those recommendations are listed. It
alma outlines general recommendations regarding the implementation of the
.rater Quality management process in the region.
There are no changes in classifications recommended for the Cache la
Poudre River. Standards that should be considered for revision in
Segment 10 include those for lead, copper, and manganese. Fur Segment 11
the revisions recommended for consideration include the standards far
nitrite, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel , manganese, and trivalent
chromium. Similar recommendations are made for Segment 12 on the Poudre
River for nitrite, trivalent chromium, and manganese. Other standards
that should be considered for revision include those for cadmium, lead,
and zinc, based on hardness, acid for silver based on ambient levels and
additional evaluation of data.
Existing classifications for the segments in the big Thompson River Basin
seem appropriate except for those on Segments 4 and 5. The Class 2 Warm
;water Aquatic Life classification on these two segments may not be the
most appropriate because the attainability of that use is severely
limited by adverse flow, substrate, and habitat conditions. Stanuards
for Segment 4 and 5 which are recommended to be considered for revision
include those for trivalent chromium, silver, copper, ca" i um, lead,
nickel , and zinc. St. Vrain Creek has a present cL ssif cation on
Segment 3 from Hygiene Road to the confluence win the South Platte giver
or Aquatic Life Class 1 Warm. It is recommended t ,at this portion of the
creek be resegmented to reflect the consicerahie difference in
environmental conditions between the transition part of the stream above
Lnngmcnt and the plains part in Weld County, which should ne classified
Warm Water Aauatic Life Class 2 due to habitat limitations.
Consideration of revised standards is recommended for cadmium, copper,
lead, nickel , sivler, and zinc, based on mean ambient hardness level7 of
more than 4C) my/1 . Although little data was analyee '. on the South
Platte River, there was no evidence found to indicate any changes in
classifications or standards should he considered at this time. General
recommendations regarding the water Quality management process are
discussed in Section V.7.6. In regard to type c treatment specified, it
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is recommended that secondary treatment continue to be the required level
in the plains area with associated monitoring programs to assure
protection of uses. Region specific recommendations include reevaluation
of the regional monitoring program in light of the data analyses done for
this plan update. Another recommended action is a review of the
policies, plans, and capabilities of responsible agencies to provide
protection of the good quality water supplies for the region. Lastly it
is recommended that correction of the problem concerning high nitrate
levels in some community water supplies be investigated.
In Chapter VI the status of point source discharges is 'presented.
Publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities, private domestic sewage
systems with discharges, and industrial point source discharges are
reviewed; and a description of the treatment and discharge facilities,
the current status of the permit, and the projected needs of the
discharger are discussed. The municipal facility inventory is divided by
river basin for ease in presentation and identifying common factors
associated with discharges to the same segment. Industrial discharges
are reviewed following the municipal facilities, succeeded by i
discussion of projected new sources, residual waste control and land
disposal facilities, and finally the regional grant priority list.
Chapter VII outlines the current general situation regarding non-point
source pollution in the region. Sources discussed which have a potential
water auality impact include agricultural runoff, urban storm water
runoff, construction site and forest runoff, and individual sewage
disposal system discharges. The types of pollutants of greatest concern
include sediment, salinity, bacteria, and nutrients. The approach that
is most practical and cost effective in controlling non-point pollution
is the use of Best Management Practices (BMP ' s). BMP's in use in the
area are noted, these having been chosen to best suit the particular
circumstances of each situation. Factors affecting that choice include
land use type, economics, and physical characteristics of the site such
as topography and soils. Chapter IX contains a manayment plan for the
Laramie River Basin. The physical characteristics of the basin are
described, and an analysis of all water quality data available is
provided. The quality of basin waters is excellent, with no significant
sources of pollutants present.
In the final chapter, Chapter X, recommendations are maae for management
actions which will provide for water quality protection. Courses of
action which are being used and which can be initiated to meet the area 's
needs are divided into categories depending on the type of solution
involved. They are classified as institutional measures, scial
studies, projects, or regulatory responsibiliti'=s.
Special studies that could provide valuable information for protecting
and/or enhancing water quality include the assessment of fish population
data now in progress and the investigation of high nitrate concentrations
in some Weld County groundwaters. It is recommended that a study be
conducted to investigate the causes of the high nitrate levels in
specific area groundwaters and to develop possible corrective measures
which may feasibly be implemented. It ' s also recommended that the
regional monitoring program be reviewed to determine whether it could be
improved or redirected to resolve present issues of concern.
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