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Federal water data

County water report

Plumas County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Plumas County, California.

Water grade

F

Water score

27.8

State rank

#48

of 58

Health violations

19

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

14.3%

84 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

35

871 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

NF FEATHER R BL ROCK C DIV DAM CA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Plumas County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 27.8 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

19

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

14% impaired

84 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

NF FEATHER R BL ROCK C DIV DAM CA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

35

871 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

27.8/100

Health violations

19

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

76.8

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Plumas County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Plumas County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 27.8 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 19 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A notable 14.3% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (12 of 84 water bodies) across Plumas County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are toxicity and mercury. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Plumas County has moderate coverage with 35 active monitoring sites with 871 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and nutrient. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Plumas County

Water Verdict

Plumas County, California receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 27.8 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 84 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 14.3% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Plumas County, California show 19 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 76.8 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. Independent monitoring is comparatively sparse here — 871 water-quality results logged in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years — so the utility's own reporting carries extra weight.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Plumas County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Plumas County's drinking-water compliance score is 27.8 out of 100. The violation rate for Plumas County is 76.8 per 100,000 people served. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. Toxicity is the leading impairment cause in Plumas County's watershed. With 35 active water-quality monitoring sites in Plumas County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the NF FEATHER R BL ROCK C DIV DAM CA gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Plumas County has poorer water quality than the average county in California. Its water score is 16.8 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Plumas County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Toxicity

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Mercury

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Copper

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Plumas County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Plumas County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Plumas County

Consumer Confidence Reports (CA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in California

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

14.3%

12 of 84 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    TOXICITY

  • 2

    MERCURY

  • 3

    COPPER

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

35

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

871

871 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Organics, Other

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Free tool

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Water Cost Estimate

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3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Plumas County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Plumas County, California?
Plumas County, California has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 27.8/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 19 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Plumas County?
Plumas County has 19 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Plumas County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 14.3% of Plumas County's 84 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (12 impaired). The top reported causes are TOXICITY, MERCURY, COPPER. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Plumas County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 871 measurements from 35 monitoring sites in Plumas County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Organics, Other. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
How does Plumas County water compare to the California average?
Plumas County's SDWIS water quality score of 27.8/100 is lower than the California state average of 44.6. The average water quality grade across California is D, based on data from 58 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Plumas County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Plumas County has a water quality grade of F (27.8/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Why does Plumas County have so many water violations?
Plumas County has 19 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Plumas County rank for water quality in California?
Plumas County ranks #48 out of 58 counties in California by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 27.8/100, it falls in the bottom third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Lake County

California

F

27.8

Water score

Siskiyou County

California

F

27.9

Water score

Mono County

California

F

28.0

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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