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Federal water data

County water report

El Paso County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for El Paso County, Colorado.

Water grade

C

Water score

51.3

State rank

#22

of 64

Health violations

107

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

36.3%

289 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

210

119,383 recent measurements

Live streamflow

59%

FOUNTAIN CREEK NEAR FOUNTAIN, CO.

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for El Paso County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 51.3 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

107

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

36% impaired

289 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

59% of mean

FOUNTAIN CREEK NEAR FOUNTAIN, CO.

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

210

119,383 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

51.3/100

Health violations

107

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

14.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

El Paso County has 7 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #108 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSIThe Data Center Water Stress Index: 60% the county's water-system stress plus 40% how concentrated data centers already are, scored 0-100. Higher means data-center density and water pressure overlap more here.

63.0

0-100 index

Facility count

7

80.5 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+1.3

Compared with US county median

Named operators

SAPT5 Data CentersWalmart

Mapped facilities

  • AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC - CO SPRINGS DATA CENTER

    COLORADO SPRINGS

    EPA ECHO

  • FEDERAL EXPRESS - CO TECH

    COLORADO SPRINGS

    EPA ECHO

  • OpenStreetMap data center 476609221

    Facility details limited

    OSM

  • SAP COS02

    SAP

    OSM

  • T5@Colorado Springs

    Colorado Springs · T5 Data Centers

    OSM

  • WAL-MART -COLORADO DATA CENTER #7497

    COLORADO SPRINGS

    EPA ECHO

1 more mapped facilities included in the county score.

See the El Paso County data-center reportReview methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in El Paso County.

1 MW1,000 MW
40%100%
799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 128.5% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

128.5% of county industrial baseline

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding El Paso County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

El Paso County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 51.3 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 107 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 substantial 36.3% of assessed waterways are impaired (105 of 289 water bodies) across El Paso County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and arsenic. 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 2026-05-14T13:00:00.000-06:00) puts FOUNTAIN CREEK at 77.3 cfs — well below its long-term average at 59% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. 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. El Paso County has extensive coverage with 210 active monitoring sites with 119,383 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 El Paso County

Water Verdict

El Paso County, Colorado receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 51.3 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 289 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 36.3% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 58.7% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for El Paso County, Colorado show 107 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 14.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 119,383 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in El Paso County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. El Paso County's drinking-water compliance score is 51.3 out of 100. The violation rate for El Paso County is 14.4 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in El Paso County's watershed. With 210 active water-quality monitoring sites in El Paso County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the FOUNTAIN CREEK gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

El Paso County has better water quality than the average county in Colorado. Its water score is 12.6 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to 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 El Paso County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

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

  • 2

    Arsenic

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

  • 3

    Selenium

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for El Paso County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for El Paso County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for El Paso County

Consumer Confidence Reports (CO)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Colorado

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

36.3%

105 of 289 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    ARSENIC

  • 3

    SELENIUM

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

210

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

119K

119,383 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals

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

77.3cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

59%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

FOUNTAIN CREEK NEAR FOUNTAIN, CO.

USGS site
07106000
Drainage area
672 sq mi
Long-term mean
132 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

Estimate Your Water Costs

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 El Paso 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 El Paso County, Colorado?
El Paso County, Colorado has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 51.3/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 107 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 El Paso County?
El Paso County has 107 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 El Paso County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 36.3% of El Paso County's 289 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (105 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), ARSENIC, SELENIUM. 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 El Paso County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 119,383 measurements from 210 monitoring sites in El Paso County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Inorganics, Minor, Metals. 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 El Paso County right now?
El Paso County's primary USGS streamgage on the FOUNTAIN CREEK has a pipeline snapshot of 77.3 cubic feet per second — 59% of the long-term mean of 131.77 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does El Paso County water compare to the Colorado average?
El Paso County's SDWIS water quality score of 51.3/100 is higher than the Colorado state average of 38.7. The average water quality grade across Colorado is F, based on data from 64 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in El Paso County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, El Paso County has a water quality grade of C (51.3/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. 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 El Paso County have so many water violations?
El Paso County has 107 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 El Paso County rank for water quality in Colorado?
El Paso County ranks #22 out of 64 counties in Colorado by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 51.3/100, it falls in the top 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

Las Animas County

Colorado

C

51.8

Water score

Douglas County

Colorado

C

52.5

Water score

Eagle County

Colorado

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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