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County water report

Phelps County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Phelps County, Nebraska.

Water grade

D

Water score

42.1

State rank

#57

of 90

Health violations

2

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

58.8%

17 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

N/A

EPA Water Quality Portal

Live streamflow

10%

Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, near Overton, Nebr.

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Phelps County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 42.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

2

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

59% impaired

17 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

10% of mean

Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, near Overton, Nebr.

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

N/A

Rolling 5-year window

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.

42.1/100

Health violations

2

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

28.5

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Phelps County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Phelps County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 42.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 2 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

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 58.8% of assessed waterways are impaired (10 of 17 water bodies) across Phelps County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and cause unknown. 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 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, at 63.5 cfs — well below its long-term average at 10% 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.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Phelps County

Water Verdict

Phelps County, Nebraska receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 42.1 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 17 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 58.8% 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 9.6% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Phelps County, Nebraska show 2 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 28.5 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. The most recent Clean Water Act assessment cycle on file for the county's watershed is 2022.

Consumer Guidance

Phelps County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Phelps County's drinking-water compliance score is 42.1 out of 100. The violation rate for Phelps County is 28.5 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. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Phelps County's watershed. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Phelps County has poorer water quality than the average county in Nebraska. Its water score is 16 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 Phelps County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

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

  • 2

    Cause Unknown

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

  • 3

    Mercury (fish tissue)

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Phelps County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Phelps County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Phelps County

Consumer Confidence Reports (NE)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Nebraska

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

58.8%

10 of 17 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    CAUSE UNKNOWN

  • 3

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

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.

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

63.5cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

10%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, near Overton, Nebr.

USGS site
06767970
Long-term mean
663 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 Phelps County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Phelps County, Nebraska?
Phelps County, Nebraska has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 42.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 2 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 Phelps County?
Phelps County has 2 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 Phelps County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 58.8% of Phelps County's 17 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (10 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), CAUSE UNKNOWN, MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE. 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.
What's happening with rivers in Phelps County right now?
Phelps County's primary USGS streamgage on the Platte R, J2 Outflow and S Ch, has a pipeline snapshot of 63.5 cubic feet per second — 10% of the long-term mean of 662.6 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 Phelps County water compare to the Nebraska average?
Phelps County's SDWIS water quality score of 42.1/100 is lower than the Nebraska state average of 58.1. The average water quality grade across Nebraska is D, based on data from 90 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Phelps County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Phelps County has a water quality grade of D (42.1/100). 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).
Does Phelps County have clean drinking water?
Phelps County has 2 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 42.1/100 and grade D, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Phelps County rank for water quality in Nebraska?
Phelps County ranks #57 out of 90 counties in Nebraska by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 42.1/100, 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

Stanton County

Nebraska

D

43.9

Water score

Saline County

Nebraska

F

39.5

Water score

Colfax County

Nebraska

D

44.9

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.

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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