Colorado's Nonpoint Source Program: 2022 Annual Report

Colorado's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program distributes funding awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 319 of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) to address the unique water quality challenges of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution control. Section 319 grants help implement NPS Management Programs and fund NPS projects designed to reduce NPS pollution - pollution from diffuse sources that is carried to waterbodies through runoff or snowmelt and is not controlled through regulatory mechanisms such as  Colorado's Discharge Permit System . Colorado’s 2022 Section 319 grant work plan identifies projects that help meet objectives and milestones in Colorado's updated  2022 NPS Management Plan  (approved by the Water Quality Control Commission on April 11, 2022 and approved by EPA on August 2, 2022) through a strategic approach focused on NPS Program priorities. Section 319(h)(11) requires states to report on milestone progress, NPS pollutant load reductions, and other water quality improvements on an annual basis.

This 2022 Annual Report summarizes milestone progress from October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022 (FFY2022) both under the previous NPS Management Plan (2012) as well as the current 2022 NPS Management Plan, as well as progress made on Section 319 grant workplans from 2017-2022.

Highlights for Colorado's NPS Program for FFY2022 include:

• Colorado's Water Quality Control Commission approved the  2022 NPS Management Plan  at an administrative action hearing in April 2022, and the EPA approved the revised plan which updates and replaces the 2012 revision in August 2022. The 2022 update to the Nonpoint Source Management Plan includes objectives and milestones to measure progress during the 2022-2027 plan timeframe, and was the result of an iterative process that involved a survey from NPS partners, input from the NPS Alliance, including work sessions with the NPS Alliance and NPS Workgroup, as well as a notice for public comments leading up to the April hearing;
• The EPA approved a Success Story for the Lower South Platte River (COSPLS01a and COSPLS01b) from the Weld County/Morgan County line to the Colorado/Nebraska border where best management practices (BMPs) reduced selenium loading from agricultural activities. The Lower South Platte River is an important water resource for drinking water, aquatic life, recreation and agriculture uses. After watershed plans were completed for the area in 2005 and 2012, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) funded conservation practices identified in those watershed plans to address water quality concerns from irrigated croplands. These BMPs improved water quality, and as a result, this stretch of river now meets selenium water quality standards, and was removed from the CWA Section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2020;
• Colorado's unprecedented wildfire season in 2020 burned over 625,000 acres across the Colorado and South Platte basins. To help address post-wildfire runoff, the NPS Program released a Request for Applications (RFA #40646) for post-fire implementation using Sate Revolving Funds for disaster support. The "East Troublesome Fire Willow Creek Stabilization" project was approved through this RFA, and will begin work in 2023. This project will address sediment and nutrient loading into Willow Creek Reservoir, a part of the collections system for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project that delivers water to more than 1 million people for agricultural and municipal use;
• The NPS Program offered priority points for disadvantaged communities in its 2022 RFA (#35752) as part of CDPHE’s commitment to incorporate health equity and environmental justice principles into administration of its programs. Over 50% of the total funding request came from project sponsors doing work in areas of the state that met the State Revolving Fund definition of a disadvantaged community;
• After the Colorado Environmental Justice Act (House Bill 21-1266) was passed, the NPS Program released its 2023 RFA (#41051), which included priority points for projects in areas that met the disproportionately impacted community definition identified in HB21-1266;
• The NPS Program continued to participate in the San Juan Watershed Program under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act to implement a wildfire mitigation project in the Florida watershed to protect source water;
• The NPS Program continued edge-of-field monitoring at several projects to assess BMP effectiveness and aid in calibration of watershed models to improve the accuracy of these models; and
• The NPS Program held its annual Planning Session with the NPS Alliance in April 2022 to coordinate NPS efforts across the state and collaborate on approaches to improve water quality impacted by NPS pollution.

StoryMaps are web applications that combine interactive maps, multimedia content, and user experiences to tell stories digitally. This StoryMap is a visual resource that not only gives the reader background information on Colorado's NPS Program, but summarizes annual progress in meeting milestones for Colorado's NPS Program pursuant to Section 319(h)(11) of the Federal CWA. To navigate the StoryMap, some of the interactive features work best on a desktop or laptop computer. Please scroll down through the content or use the top menu bar to jump to a specific section of the StoryMap. Images can be expanded by clicking or tapping on the image. When you see words with a red underline, hover over the word(s) and click on the word(s), and it will open up a separate window/tab to take you to a website or document that provides more information on that topic.

Please visit  www.npscolorado.com  for more information on Colorado's NPS Management Program or please contact:

Estella Moore at estella.moore@state.co.us

The  Water Quality Control Commission  (commission) and  Water Quality Control Division  (division) of the  Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment  (CDPHE), under the authority of federal and Colorado statutes, administer state programs implementing the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Congress enacted Section 319 of the CWA to establish a national program to control nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution and to develop NPS management programs that maintain and improve water quality with the assistance of Section 319 grants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the division to implement a state NPS management program which is now the division’s  Nonpoint Source Program .

The goal of Colorado’s NPS Program is to:

"restore and protect Colorado waters from the impacts of nonpoint source pollution to meet and maintain water quality standards and designated uses."

The NPS Program meets their restoration and protection goal by providing technical and financial assistance to local communities to address NPS pollution impacts through voluntary, incentivized BMPs. The 2022 NPS Management Plan helps address the unique water quality challenges of NPS pollution control through a strategic approach that includes objectives and milestones to measure goal progress during the 2022 – 2027 plan timeframe. Projects are identified below by NPS pollution source category to meet Section 319(b)(2)(A) requirements while also identifying the regulatory basin location of the projects. See the "Summary of Annual Grant Accomplishments" section for more information.

The main approach to provide financial assistance to local communities for NPS projects is through the annual Request for Applications (RFA) process. The NPS Program funds watershed-based plan (WBPs) and watershed implementation projects that implement BMPs identified in WBPs. This process is a continual process that includes project scoping to help project sponsors develop potential projects, the RFA process that begins with the RFA release, and contracting, which includes providing technical assistance for quality assurance/quality control:

In addition to watershed planning and watershed implementation projects, the NPS Program's strategic approach also uses the following program activities to meet its goal and priorities:

• NPS Mini-Grant Program: This program supports a variety of small, locally-sponsored NPS outreach and education projects that range from conferences and events to bike tours and watershed group formation exploration; 
• NPS Watershed Planning and Tool Development Program: Projects funded under this program include developing watershed plans and tool development that supports watershed planning and watershed implementation projects;
• NPS Program Success Story Initiative: This program funds data collection and data analysis to demonstrate measurable water quality improvements from NPS projects and programs to help the program meet its Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA) requirements with EPA;
• Disaster Support: The NPS Program provides technical and financial assistance for emergency/disaster support for post-wildfire and flooding NPS projects that address water quality concerns through BMP implementation; and
• Disproportionately Impacted Communities: The NPS Program provides financial assistance to disproportionately impacted communities for watershed planning and watershed implementation projects. Priority points are given as part of the request for applications process.

This reporting period includes five years of CWA Section 319 grants (FFY17-22) with over 35 different NPS project activities with a variety of project types and NPS source categories. Local communities contributed over $3 million of non-federal funds to leverage resources during FFY17-22 and expand on effective implementation of the NPS Program to improve water quality in the state. The state also provided a total of over $1.7 million in Water Quality Improvement Funds (WQIF) as nonfederal match for FFY17-22 projects.

Funding shown below per NPS source category shows total NPS funding provided, which includes Section 319 funds, but also leverages other sources of funding such as Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority funds (i.e. Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund). The required 40% of total project cost non-federal match requirement only applies to Section 319 funded portions of projects. Match numbers below are not final numbers unless the project status is identified as "complete". Final match is reported once the project is complete through the final federal financial report for the Section 319 grant.

Progress in meeting the milestones and objectives in the  2012 NPS Management Plan  for the majority of FFY22 (October 1, 2021 - April 11, 2022) are presented below "complete", with the deliverables identified if applicable for each milestone. Basins identified in the NPS source category tables below are the regulatory basins applicable to that project. All load reductions and water quality data for completed projects was uploaded to EPA's  Grants Reporting and Tracking System  (GRTS) and  Water Quality Exchange  (WQX) respectively to address those grant requirements and can be accessed on those websites in greater detail.

Progress in meeting milestones and objectives in the  2022 NPS Management Plan  for FFY22 (April 11, 2022 - September 30, 2022) is also reported below.

The Colorado Nonpoint Source (NPS) Alliance is a volunteer group, meeting to address NPS issues statewide as well as work with the NPS Program to provide technical consultation on NPS planning activities and watershed implementation project application review. The NPS Alliance interacts with watershed groups and other partners and stakeholders as part of the NPS program’s public outreach. NPS partners within the NPS Alliance leverage funding to help meet the match requirements under Section 319. Current NPS Alliance members include representatives from other division programs, state and federal agencies, educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

The mission of the NPS Alliance is:

"To collaboratively protect, restore, and improve Colorado’s water quality with a focus on nonpoint source pollution management and integrated solutions."

Maxwell, Dillon M.; Rhoades, Charles C.; Bramwell, Lincoln; Paschke, Mark W. 2021. A history of land use and vegetation change in California Park, a high-elevation rangeland in northwestern Colorado. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-427. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 20 p.  https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-427 .

U.S. EPA. 2007. National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Hydromodification. Nonpoint Source Control Branch. Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds.