MINUTES
Water Quality Committee
March 5, 2019
The meeting of the Water Quality Committee of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District was called to order at 10:06 A.M. on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 by Ralph Anders at Central’s office at 3209 West 28th Street in Greeley. Committee members present were Ralph Anders, David Bernhardt, Everett Kissler, Frank Eckhardt and Jim Reasoner. Committee member absent was Chad Schafer. Staff member present was Frankie Esquivel.
Frankie opened by talking about the Regulation 38 Triennial Water Quality Review, a periodic study of water quality in segments of the South Platte River Basin. Everett discussed the issues of sending data to the state with the fear that the state or whomever manages the data, would pick and choose data to fit a personal agenda. Frank went on to discuss the repercussions of finding Coliform bacteria in the ditch system and what happens once the state recognizes contaminations in a water system. Upon agreement to what data was presented in the State Request, a motion was made at 10:10am by David Bernhardt to recommend the State Requested Data to the board for further review; motion seconded by Frank Eckhardt.
Frankie Esquivel continued by presenting and reviewing a Water Quality Summary report for the March board meeting. The summary is to include 2018 water quality expenses with a break down of whom moneys were paid to and an itemized list of supplies needed to maintain accurate sensor calibration. The 2018 pilot run of the continuous monitors shed light on what needs to be done and the frequency of samples to be taken. There was discussion about the obstacles that come with having a sensor in situation for an extended time and how the accuracy of the sensor varies due to the calibration of other sensors. Ralph asked if we could show comparison trends of segments from beginning to the end of the year. During this meeting it was unanimously agreed to have a monthly report to present to the Board on historical comparisons of different segments for different parameters; including but not limited to Total N, Total P, SAR, Total Coliforms, and any and all data collected by the multisensory probes. A motion was made at 10:45am by Frank Eckhardt to present cost and future expenditures of water quality to the board, the motion was seconded by David Bernhardt
Further discussion was held with Jim Reasoner about the raw sewage epidemic in the 1960’s and the cities approach to catching sewage and effluent by bypassing the South Platte at some point and filtering back into the river at the Brighton WWTF. Jim went on to ask about the testing process of our water quality and posed a concern for necessitating an in-house lab. His concern was that the cost wasn’t representative of the data being received. Frankie explained how the multisensory probes gather and present data and the simplicity of calibrated without the need of a licensed laboratory.
Upon no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned by Ralph at 10:50am.
Respectfully submitted,
Francisco Esquivel Iii
Water delivery/ Operations Coordinator