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Quality of ground water near Barker Reservoir Boulder County

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Quality of ground water near Barker Reservoir, Boulder County

Study Area: Nederland, Boulder County, CO
Period of Project: 1998-2000
Project Number: CO302
Project Chief: Jennifer Flynn
Cooperator: City of Boulder, Boulder County Health Department

BACKGROUND:

A cooperative study of ground-water and surface-water quality was done in Boulder County in 1975-77. This study provided a baseline of water-quality conditions in the county at the time of sampling. In 1996, the USGS revisited the sites sampled in the 1970's and compared more recent data to historical data. The range of nitrate concentrations in the mountain areas of Boulder County was higher in the 1996 study than in the 1977 study. This increase in nitrogen concentrations prompted an investigation of ground water in an area of expanding development in mountainous Boulder County.

Barker Reservoir is a mountain reservoir adjacent to Nederland, Colo., that supplies 40 percent of the drinking water for the city of Boulder. Ground water that discharges into Barker Reservoir flows beneath residential developments on the north and south sides of the reservoir. Homes on both sides of the reservoir use individual sewage disposal systems (ISDS's) for disposal of domestic wastewater.

In August and September 1998, water-quality samples were collected from 12 wells and 10 springs or surface-water drainages near Barker Reservoir to evaluate whether ISDS's affect the quality of ground water entering Barker Reservoir or its tributaries. In September 2000, several of these sites were resampled. In September-November 2000, ISDS's were located using GPS technology.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To determine the exact locations and impact of ISDS's on the quality of ground water and surface water entering Barker Reservoir.