Upper White River Nutrient Assessment

Recent algal blooms in the upper White River watershed have resulted in nuisance algal biomass in excess of the State of Colorado water quality standard, along with related impacts to pH and dissolved oxygen. Based on a watershed assessment completed as part of the project, impacts were beleived to be the result of multiple complex and intertwined factors. Those that most likely contribute to blooms in the White River include elevated nutrient concentrations; a shallow well-illuminated river, hydrologic factors including lack of annual scouring flow and decreased low-flow; an armored stream bed that prevents channel bed disturbance; and finally, climatic factors including earlier runoff and longer growing season.

Recommend developing a board or stakeholders to guide and direct watershed management and monitoring activities; a technical advisory committee to advise the board; development of a defensible watershed-wide water quality monitoring program; and implementation of nutrient source reduction activities and practices.