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, Ronna Edgett-Underwood, Brian Mueller, Susie Meade, Claire Barker, and Virginia Weiskopf. Thank you to past volunteers, Amy Relnick, John Hulburd, Ali Dahl, Taylor Poyner, Diane Spooner, Leslie Kaminski, Dudley Case, and Sharon Case.
In 2025, UWP was served by its first River Conservation Corps member for the year, Virginia Weiskopf who came on as a Hyrdologist and Hyderographer. In 2026, the River Corps member was Elliot Risch, data collection and analaysis specialist. These important service members do important work in streamflow measurement to complement our water quality monitoring work, as well as assisting with related education. UWP will be looking for its next River Corps member in December and January to begin service in 2027.
In the Upper Uncompahgre River Watershed, longtime River Watch volunteers Ethan Funk and Eric Funk who sampled from just below the City of Ouray to up Red Mountain Pass, as well as one site along CR 361, passed on their volunteer duties to Pacie Merling in summer 2026. Steven, the Parks Supervisor for the Town of Ridgway, also 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:
RW Data Summary (2019-21) and Review of WQCC 2022 Reg. 93 – 303(d) List of Impaired Waters
Year-round 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 began May-October monthly sampling at Blue Lakes in the Sneffels Wilderness Area and three high alpine locations up Red Mountain Pass, and has since changed some sites to fit data needs for the watershed. In 2026, the high elevation late spring through early autumn sites are:
East Fork Dallas Creek
Commodore Gulch at Highway 550
Mineral Creek at County Road 18a
Gray Copper Gulch at County Road 20
Red Mountain Creek above Idarado compliance point
Red Mountain Creek at Crystal Reservoir
Governor Creek in Governor Basin
Imogene Creek above Canyon Creek at Camp Bird
Sneffels Creek at bridge on Camp Bird Road
Sneffels Creek below Atlas Mill
Read about River Watch in the Jan. 2019 article in The Watch newspaper
You can find out information at: https://coloradoriverwatch.org/
