Watershed Stewardship

The Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership acts as an information resource, provides educational programs and advises various groups and projects on watershed data and science.

We participate in various water sampling and studies to understand water quality and supply. We analyze data for specific projects, events and publications, and gather stakeholder input about their knowledge and experiences of the watershed. Then, we provide expertise about watershed conditions to various government agencies to help them make management decisions. We also share watershed information with the community through various events and publications.

Our current educational and outreach activities include:

  • Education in classrooms, field trips and events for students of the Montrose, Ouray and Ridgway schools
    • Ridgway Elementary School third grade class watershed science lessons and field trips
    • 4th Grade Natural Resource Festival in Montrose
  • Meetings and tours to promote awareness of watershed issues and conditions
    • watershed and water conservation presentations at the 2022 Let’s Talk Water forum
    • annual snowshoe tour into Red Mountain Mining District
    • Idarado Mine cleanup updates
  • Organization of the annual Ridgway RiverFest (last weekend of June) 
  • Collaboration with nearby watershed groups to organize the annual San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference
  • Information sharing and advising with various community groups and government agencies 
    • West Central Public Health Private Well Water Quality Study
    • Ouray County Stream Management Planning Steering Committee
    • Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment’s TDML (Total Daily Metals Loading) Update
    • Outdoor Alliance Vision Statement on the GMUG Plan Update
  • Publication of watershed information