Air & Water

The State of Colorado and Delta County have restrictions on burning unwanted waste materials. 

All persons conducting open burning, other than agricultural burning (as defined by the State of Colorado Air Pollution Control Division Regulation #9), are required to obtain an open burning permit from the Air Pollution Control Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Information regarding State open burning permits may be found at the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division website. 

An application for a permit may be submitted by e-mail to: cdphe.openburning@state.co.us, or you can print out the application and submit it by fax to the Air Pollution Control Division at (303) 782-0278. For more information, call (970) 874-2165. 

If you are planning to conduct any open burning, you must first contact the Delta County Dispatch (399-2955) on the day you plan to conduct the burn. (Details…) 

The burning of household trash and other dense smoke-producing materials is prohibited in Delta County. The Delta County Environmental Health Division enforces the Delta County Open Burning Regulations. 

Links 

• Open Burning Algorithm, a guide to know what, when, and where you can burn
• Agricultural and Open Burning brochure (1315KB pdf)
• Open Burning Permit Application, for submission to Delta County Environmental Health
• State of Colorado Air Pollution Control Division Regulation Open Burning
• Colorado Open Burning Fact SheetDelta County Open Burning Regulation

Water is an extremely valuable natural resource of Delta County. Delta County Environmental Health program partners with private and local, state, and federal entities to maintain and improve water quantity and quality in the County. The Delta Board of County Commissioners is dedicated to preserving the quality and quantity of the water resources of Delta County and has therefore entered into a long-term research project to study the hydrology and science of water in the County. 

Water Planning 
A Delta County groundwater planning area map was created to classify groundwater resources. 

GIS-Based Hydrological and Environmental Systems Analysis (HESA) studies 
Phase l - Oak Mesa Report, Oak Mesa Presentation
Phase 2 - North Fork Report, North Fork-Gunnison River Presentation, North Fork-Terraces Presentation
Phase 3 – Surface Creek 
Phase 4 – Uncompahgre River Valley 
Colorado Water Data Sharing Network
Rogers Mesa Groundwater Report

Colorado Water Quality Control
The Colorado Water Quality Control Commission is the administrative agency responsible for developing specific state water quality policies of the State of Colorado Water Quality Control Act. The Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regulates and implements the standards for surface and ground waters of the state set forth by the Commission and State Legislature. 

Colorado Division of Water Resources 
The Colorado Division of Water Resources (Office of the State Engineer) is an agency within the Department of Natural Resources providing administration of Colorado's water resources to meet the demands of today, and to provide for the needs of tomorrow. The agency works on basin of origin issues, issues involving federally-reserved water rights, wetlands, and endangered species recovery, as well as interstate water issues. 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources Division 
The USGS has been studying our nation's water resources for the last century. Their webpage can give you historical, periodic, and real-time information on many of the streams and rivers in the United States. They also have many water-related studies and reports available for viewing. 

Selenium Management
Multiple efforts to address elevated selenium concentrations in the Lower Gunnison and Colorado Rivers with Colorado are ongoing.  
The most active effort is related to the Selenium Management Program (SMP) facilitated by the US Bureau of Reclamation.  More information can be found on the Gunnison River Basin website.

Public Drinking Water

Safe clean drinking water is one of the foundation stones for a healthy community. Large community and small non-community systems serving such places as towns, drinking water systems, pipelines, summer camps, restaurants, campgrounds, and motels in Delta County are inspected and regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Water Quality Control Division Drinking Water Program. 

For more information, visit the US Environmental Protection Agency Colorado Drinking Water information site.

Private Drinking Water

Private drinking water sources are supplied from groundwater wells or springs.  The quality and safety of the water supplied from these sources varies greatly depending on geology, aquifer depth, well construction, spring collection, and other factors.  The West Central Public Health Partnership has gathered groundwater quality data from private drinking water samples collected in the Region 10 Counties through a Safe Watch grant from the Centers of Disease Control.  Maps of water quality from groundwater wells and spring water compared to drinking water standards in Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel Counties can be found here:

Ensure Safe Drinking Water

Private well water quality is not regulated, so providing safe drinking water from a private well is the responsibility of the well owner. Two helpful publications are:

• Is Your Well Well? brochure

• “Protecting Your Private Well”, published by Colorado State University Extension.

• “Drinking Water from Household Wells”, from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. 

These publications address the following topics:

• Groundwater quality and potential contaminants

• Naturally occurring sources of pollution

• Installing a new well

• Well location and setbacks

• How to protect your ground water supply

• Well construction and maintenance

• Abandoned wells

• Water testing

• Interpreting your water test result

• FAQs about well water quality

Treatment Systems

It is possible to check your private drinking water to determine if it is safe for drinking. Bacteriologic testing sample containers are available at the Delta County Environmental Health Division offices to sample your water for bacteriological contamination. Samples will be sent to the Grand Junction Regional Laboratory for testing. 

Western Slope Laboratories Certified to Test Drinking Water

Enviro-Chem Analytical

685 West Gunnison Avenue

Suite 108

Grand Junction, CO

970-242-6154

City of Gunnison Wastewater Treatment Plant

524 County Road 32

Gunnison, CO

970-641-8042

Mesa County Health Department Regional Laboratory

510 29.5 Road

Grand Junction, CO

970-248-6999