The Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited is a member of River Watch. River Watch is a statewide volunteer water quality-monitoring program operated by the non profit 501©3 Colorado Watershed Assembly in cooperation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). The mission is to work with voluntary stewards to monitor water quality and other indicators of watershed health and utilize this data to educate citizens and inform decision makers about the condition of Colorado’s waters. The program is unique in its statewide focus and frequency of data collection. The Cutthroat Chapter has one collection site, West Denver Chapter has three, and the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter has a site on Bear Creek. The Cutthroat Chapters site is located on the South Platte River, upstream from Deckers, opposite Lone Rock campground. We take water samples at this site every month. Usually the water sample and water temperature, are taken about 10 AM. We have never been prevented from taking a sample because the river was frozen. This is because the water usually comes off near the bottom of Cheesman Dam. Once a year we take a macroinvertebrate sample at our site. Yes -- We take a sample of all the bugs, scuds, worms and other creepy crawly things that live in the South Platte River near Deckers and send it to a lab. The creatures are identified and counted.The water samples are tested for a variety of properties; Disolved oxygen, pH, Alkalinity, Hardness. Additionaly, the water samples are tested, in a laboratory, periodicaly throughout the year, for nutrients (not e coli), and metals. Our station is Lone Rock CG and can be viewed at; http://wildlife.state.co.us/LandWater/Riverwatch/Data/Pages/DataSummaryStations.aspx 
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