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County water report

Fremont County Water Report

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

Water grade

F

Water score

39.1

State rank

#29

of 64

Health violations

18

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

28.6%

161 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

27

9,440 recent measurements

Live streamflow

49%

ARKANSAS RIVER AT PORTLAND, CO.

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Fremont County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 39.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

18

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

29% impaired

161 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

49% of mean

ARKANSAS RIVER AT PORTLAND, CO.

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

27

9,440 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.

39.1/100

Health violations

18

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

34.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Fremont County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Fremont County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 39.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 18 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 28.6% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (46 of 161 water bodies) across Fremont County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) 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 2006-09-29T23:30:00.000-06:00) puts ARKANSAS RIVER at 373.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 49% 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. Fremont County has moderate coverage with 27 active monitoring sites with 9,440 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include inorganics, minor, metals and physical. 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 Fremont County

Water Verdict

Fremont County, Colorado receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 39.1 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 161 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 28.6% 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 49.1% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Fremont County, Colorado show 18 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 34.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. For independent context, 9,440 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Fremont County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Fremont County's drinking-water compliance score is 39.1 out of 100. The violation rate for Fremont County is 34.0 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. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Fremont County's watershed. With 27 active water-quality monitoring sites in Fremont County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the ARKANSAS RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Fremont County has water quality close to the average county in Colorado. Its water score is within 0.4 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Colorado 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 Fremont County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

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

  • 2

    Zinc

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

  • 3

    Arsenic

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Fremont County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Fremont County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Fremont County

Consumer Confidence Reports (CO)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Colorado

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

28.6%

46 of 161 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    ZINC

  • 3

    ARSENIC

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

27

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

9.4K

9,440 total readings

Most Measured

  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Physical
  • Nutrient

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

373cfs

Sep 30, 5:30 AM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

49%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

ARKANSAS RIVER AT PORTLAND, CO.

USGS site
07097000
Drainage area
4,024 sq mi
Long-term mean
760 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 Fremont 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 Fremont County, Colorado?
Fremont County, Colorado has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 39.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 18 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 Fremont County?
Fremont County has 18 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 Fremont County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 28.6% of Fremont County's 161 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (46 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), ZINC, ARSENIC. 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 Fremont County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 9,440 measurements from 27 monitoring sites in Fremont County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Physical, Nutrient. 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 Fremont County right now?
Fremont County's primary USGS streamgage on the ARKANSAS RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 373 cubic feet per second — 49% of the long-term mean of 759.84 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 Fremont County water compare to the Colorado average?
Fremont County's SDWIS water quality score of 39.1/100 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 Fremont County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Fremont County has a water quality grade of F (39.1/100). 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 Fremont County have so many water violations?
Fremont County has 18 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 Fremont County rank for water quality in Colorado?
Fremont County ranks #29 out of 64 counties in Colorado by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 39.1/100, 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

Lincoln County

Colorado

F

37.4

Water score

Elbert County

Colorado

F

37.0

Water score

Chaffee County

Colorado

F

36.9

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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