Our Vision
A clean and healthy San Juan River Watershed for current and future generations.
Our Mission
Find collaborative solutions to restore, protect, and maintain, water quality in the San Juan River Watershed.
What we do
Water Quality Research
Monitoring water quality trends for specific pollutants can be one of the best ways to cumulatively measure human impacts on a watershed. After large algae blooms were observed in the Animas River in 2001, the New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau (NMED SWQB) facilitated the formation of the San Juan Watershed Group to work towards solutions.
Watershed Planning
Watershed Plans are an ever changing work plan developed through a collaborative process to improve water quality for watersheds not meeting federal water quality standards. Under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, every state acknowledges and supports local initiatives to assess sources of nonpoint source pollution and design strategies to mitigate this pollution to improve public health and ecological function.
Projects & Outreach
With the Lower Animas Watershed Plan as a guide, the San Juan Watershed Group conducts several on the ground projects and outreach to address bacteria, nutrient, and sediment pollution, improve watershed health, and empower the community.
Our Story
The San Juan Watershed Group first convened in 2001, under the direction of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). Algal blooms choked the rivers, and NMED raised concerns about nutrient enrichment. New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) brought individual and organizational stakeholders together to address exceedances of water quality standards in the Animas, San Juan, and La Plata Rivers. Although the Gold King Mine Spill in 2015 raised numerous concerns about water quality, the San Juan Watershed Group has maintained their focus on the water quality impairments identified by the New Mexico Environment Department, and continues to focus on working with stakeholders in the watershed to address those impairments and remediate nonpoint source pollution.
Our Focus Area
Our watershed group is active primarily along the mainstem of the San Juan, Animas, and La Plata Rivers in New Mexico, downstream of Navajo Reservoir and the Colorado/Southern Ute/Ute Mountain Ute boundaries. We have recently been expanding our focus downstream to include the Navajo Nation reaches of the San Juan River before it flows into Utah.
Meetings and Coordination
The San Juan Watershed Group holds regular meetings (the third Wednesday of every month unless otherwise scheduled) which are open to all stakeholders with an interest in improving water quality, learning about projects, research, and outreach ongoing throughout the San Juan River and its tributaries, and participating in the watershed planning process. Meeting announcements and information is available in the events listed on the SJWG page. If you’d like to add an agenda item to a future meeting, discuss any and all things water quality, or explore project opportunities contact the SJWG Coordinator at any time!