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Federal water data

County water report

Shasta County Water Report

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

Water grade

D

Water score

48.5

State rank

#25

of 58

Health violations

31

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

16.5%

139 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

139

13,377 recent measurements

Live streamflow

93%

SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Shasta County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 48.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

31

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

17% impaired

139 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

93% of mean

SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

139

13,377 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

D

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

48.5/100

Health violations

31

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

18.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Shasta County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Shasta County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 48.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 31 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 16.5% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (23 of 139 water bodies) across Shasta County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are copper and zinc. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T12:00:00.000-07:00) puts SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA at 8.8k cfs — near its historical average at 93% of mean flow. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Shasta County has extensive coverage with 139 active monitoring sites with 13,377 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and organics, other. 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 Shasta County

Water Verdict

Shasta County receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 48.5 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

Shasta County has recorded 31 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 18.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Shasta County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Shasta County's drinking-water compliance score is 48.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Shasta County is 18.4 per 100,000 people served. Residents are encouraged to use an NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter for drinking and cooking water until the underlying violations are resolved. Running tap water for 30 seconds before use and avoiding older lead-pipe connections can also reduce exposure risk. The current Consumer Confidence Report from your utility will specify the contaminants of concern. Copper is the leading impairment cause in Shasta County's watershed. With 139 active water-quality monitoring sites in Shasta County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Shasta County has water quality close to the average county in California. Its water score is within 3.9 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of California as a whole.

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 Shasta County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Copper

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

  • 2

    Zinc

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

  • 3

    Cadmium

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Shasta County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Shasta County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Shasta County

Consumer Confidence Reports (CA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in California

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

16.5%

23 of 139 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    COPPER

  • 2

    ZINC

  • 3

    CADMIUM

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

139

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

13K

13,377 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Organics, Other
  • Organics, Pesticide

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).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

8,840cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

93%

Near typical

Primary Streamgage

SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA

USGS site
11370500
Drainage area
6,468 sq mi
Long-term mean
9,533 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

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Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Shasta 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 Shasta County, California?
Shasta County, California has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 48.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 31 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 Shasta County?
Shasta County has 31 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 Shasta County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 16.5% of Shasta County's 139 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (23 impaired). The top reported causes are COPPER, ZINC, CADMIUM. 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 Shasta County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 13,377 measurements from 139 monitoring sites in Shasta County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Organics, Other, Organics, Pesticide. 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.
What's happening with rivers in Shasta County right now?
Shasta County's primary USGS streamgage on the SACRAMENTO R A KESWICK CA has a pipeline snapshot of 8,840 cubic feet per second — 93% of the long-term mean of 9,532.76 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Shasta County water compare to the California average?
Shasta County's SDWIS water quality score of 48.5/100 is higher 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 Shasta County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Shasta County has a water quality grade of D (48.5/100). 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 Shasta County have so many water violations?
Shasta County has 31 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 Shasta County rank for water quality in California?
Shasta County ranks #25 out of 58 counties in California by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 48.5/100, it falls in the middle 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

Imperial County

California

D

48.3

Water score

Sutter County

California

D

47.2

Water score

Solano County

California

D

49.9

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.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

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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