Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership - focused on watershed restoration and preservation in Ouray County

Love Your Gorge Volunteer Signup Form

Love Your Gorge Volunteer Signup Form

Please sign up to be a volunteer at the 7th annual Love Your Gorge volunteer morning, organized by Ouray Ice Park and UWP, on ~~Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025,~~ from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on NEW DATE: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 (due to terrible weather that postponed the event from original date).

Please fill out this form to notify the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership and Ouray Ice Park that you plan to volunteer at Love Your Gorge (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) on Saturday, October 11. You will be asked to sign an online liability release before the event. Thank you!

Our 2025 work plan in the park includes picking up litter above and inside the gorge. Inside the gorge, often log moving and large metal removal is also necessary. We will also be repairing some stairs that are being eroded by the weather and water. Plus, UWP has a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to address other erosion issues at the Uncompahgre Gorge that impact safety and water quality.

Enjoy lunch donated by Ouray Grocery, giveaways donated by the organizers and sponsors, and an optional tour of the park!

Thank you to our event sponsors: City of Ouray, Alpine Bank, Ouray Grocery, and Ouray Brewery!

Signup closed. However, we can probably use a few more volunteers. If you are interested, please contact Tanya at the email or number below.

Questions? Contact Tanya at 970-325-3010 or tanya@uncompahgrewatershed.org

Colorado River Watch

Colorado River Watch

The Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership organizes six volunteers to sample water at six key sites selected in the Upper Uncompahgre Watershed as part of the Colorado River Watch program. The data collected by these volunteers is crucial in understanding water quality in the watershed, and helping to plan restoration projects.

Check out the 10-minute video about River Watch in the Upper Uncompahgre River Watershed

You can download the documents from the video here: Meet Your Watershed Figures

Arlen Huggins is the River Watch liaison to the UWP Board, who helps troubleshoot and report on sampling activities and administration. Our volunteers are: Arlen Huggins, Amy Relnick, John Hulburd, Ronna Edgett-Underwood, Ali Dahl, and Brian Mueller. Thank you to past volunteers, Taylor Poyner, Diane Spooner, Leslie Kaminski, Dudley Case, and Sharon Case. UWP receives funding from Ouray County and the Town of Ridgway to support our water quality monitoring activities.

In March 2025, Virginia Weiskopf joined UWP to serve as a River Corps member for the year. Virginia will do important work in streamflow measurement to complement our water quality monitoring work, as well as assisting with related education.

In the Upper Uncompahgre River Watershed, other River Watch volunteers include Ethan Funk and Eric Funk who sample from just below the City of Ouray to up Red Mountain Pass, as well as one site along CR 361. Also, Steven, the Parks Supervisor for the Town of Ridgway, contributes to River Watch data with water samples from Beaver Creek at Ridgway Ditch where it crosses CR 5A near the entrance to Elk Meadows.

Huggins produces periodic reports on past River Watch data within the upper watershed. The reports can be viewed and downloaded here:

monthly River Watch reports

2020 UWP River Watch Report

RW Data Summary (2019-21) and Review of WQCC 2022 Reg. 93 – 303(d) List of Impaired Waters

Sampling sites are called River Watch stations, and UWP’s is responsible for the following stations, from south to north:

Uncompahgre River at County Road 3

Uncompahgre River near Charles Street in Ridgway

Dallas Creek

Uncompahgre River at County Road 24 bridge

Uncompahgre River at the Pa-co-chu-puk area of Ridgway State Park

Cow Creek

In summer 2021, UWP’s River Watch team will also begin sampling at Blue Lakes in the Sneffels Wilderness Area and three high alpine locations up Red Mountain Pass.

Read about River Watch in the Jan. 2019 article in The Watch newspaper

You can find out information at: https://coloradoriverwatch.org/

How to conserve water

How to conserve water

As you know, whether we are in a drought season or not, conserving water is incredibly important. Here are some links to show you why:

The Water Page (also contains many links for water conservation importance)

The Water Project

Benefits of Recycling Webpage on “Benefits of Water Conservation”

Here are some helpful links to learn about conserving water:

UWP Consumer Water Conservation Presentation July 2022

American Rivers

A Water Smart Yard from CSU Extension Office

Water Conservation and STEM by University of Texas-Austin

Benefits of Recycling Webpage has the following links available for the public:

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