The Big Thompson Watershed Forum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization located in Loveland, Colorado. Incorporated on December 23, 2002, the Forum addresses water quality issues by developing assessment programs that include water quality monitoring and evaluation to define priorities and to identify protection actions in the areas of mitigation, monitoring, education, and supporting reasonable water quality regulations.
Mission
The mission of the Big Thompson Watershed Forum is to support the protection and improvement of water quality in the Big Thompson Watershed through collaborative monitoring, assessment, and education/outreach projects. The Forum’s goals are to foster stakeholder teamwork in conducting watershed assessment, identify priority protection measures, educate affected interests, and promote voluntary practices that protect the Big Thompson Watershed and the quality of its waters. Water quantity issues are an integral and indispensable aspect of water quality and will be addressed as such by the Forum.
Objectives
In pursuit of its mission and goals, the Big Thompson Watershed Forum will endeavor to:
- Build and maintain cooperative watershed monitoring programs that foster open communication and collaboration among stakeholders, with strong public and financial support based on documented accomplishment of its objectives.
- Facilitate cooperative water quality assessment and the voluntary exchange of information to identify and address water quality concerns in a proactive manner.
- Reduce or eliminate existing and potential water quality problems in the Big Thompson Watershed by providing educational programs that increase awareness of water quality and related quantity issues by:
- developing and/or supporting voluntary operating practices that address existing and potential water quality problems
- comparing and analyzing sampling data with existing water quality standards
- determining the statistical significance of any identified spatial and/or temporal water quality trends on a watershed scale
- providing water quality and watershed-related information to any party that has the potential to impact water quality within the Big Thompson River Watershed