Water Quality Assessment

Enforcement Actions

The DEQ undertakes enforcement actions to preserve safe environmental conditions throughout Wyoming. 

This page contains information on the enforcement actions that the Water Quality Division may undertake, as well as a record of enforcement actions that have been undertaken by WQD.

If the download box is not working below, please click here.

Electronic Documents Submittal

Electronic document submittal is available for WQD permit applications, reports, and other communications.
Visit:  WDEQ Water Quality Division Downloads

You do NOT need to follow up the electronic submission with a hard copy submission unless you are specifically contacted by a WQD staff person with a request to do so.

Need to report a spill or complaint? Please visit https://deqspills.wyo.gov/home

Submitting a public comment? WQD is unable to accept public notice comments through this system. Refer to the public notice document for instructions on how to submit comments or visit https://wq.wyomingdeq.commentinput.com/comment/search.

NOTICE: All applications for water distribution systems and/or sewage collection systems that are within the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) district shall be submitted to the BOPU for approval. Contact Frank Strong or Bryce Dorr at (307) 637-6460, ENGreview@cheyennebopu.org, or http://cheyennebopu.org for additional information.

Recent General Permit Authorizations

The DEQ Water Quality Division accepts comments on all permits authorized under a general permit for a period of 30 days, as provided for in W.S. 35-11-801(d).

Interested persons may mail or fax comments to the main Cheyenne office. The ‘Date’ column in the table below indicates the date the authorization was posted to the website. Comments must be received before 5:00 pm on the 30th day after the authorization was posted to the website. For example, comments for an authorization posted on 10/1/18 must be received by 5:00 p.m. on 10/31/18. DEQ does not accept emailed comments.

You may sort the table by posting date or search for the type of general permit, the county where the permit was issued, the permit number, or the name of the person or company to whom the permit was issued.

If you wish to review the general permit documents, please go to the web page for each permitting program:

If the download box is not working below, please click here.

Proposed Rules and Regulations

The Water Quality Division will present proposed revisions to Water Quality Rules Chapter 1, Wyoming Surface Water Quality Standards; and Chapter 2, Permit Regulations for Discharges to Wyoming Surface Waters to the Water and Waste Advisory Board at their December 12, 2024 meeting, starting at 9:00 a.m. The proposed revisions to Chapter 1 (1) fulfill the federal requirements at 40 CFR § 131.20, (2) restructure and align requirements with state law and federal law, regulations, and guidance; (3) revise designated uses and remove the designated use classification system; and (4) provide minor updates to specific water quality criteria. The proposed revisions to Chapter 2 (1) update references to the designated use classification system to reflect proposed revisions to Chapter 1; and (2) incorporate provisions related to fish toxicants, aquatic pesticides, and short-term sediment disturbance that Water Quality Division proposes to move from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. More information is available at: http://deq.wyoming.gov/shwd/wwab/ under the “Upcoming Meeting” tab

Rules and Regulations

All official Wyoming State Rules and Regulations are kept at the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office. Click here to view all current Rules and Regulations.

Water Quality Assessment

The Water Quality Assessment Program is responsible for ensuring that Wyoming remains in compliance with the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) by preparing and submitting the Integrated 305(b) and 303(d) Report to the US Environmental Protection Agency on a biennial basis. 

The Integrated Report (IR) contains information on the quality of Wyoming’s waters, including those waters that have been identified as not meeting water quality standards.

Section 305(b)
The CWA requires each state to submit a report to EPA every two years describing the status of its surface and ground waters. This document is commonly referred to as the “305(b) Report”, which includes an assessment of existing water quality in Wyoming, and an overview of past and proposed water pollution abatement efforts.

Section 303(d)
Section 303(d) of the CWA, and Title 40 part 130 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR part 130) requires each state to develop a list of waters that are not attaining water quality standards and are not expected to meet state water quality standards even after application of technology-based controls for point sources or other control requirements, such as best management practices (BMPs) for nonpoint sources of pollution. The 303(d) list is a subset of all of the impaired waters listed in the comprehensive 305(b) water quality report.  Section 303(d) also requires that states develop total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for all waters on the 303(d) list. Waters on the 303(d) list must be prioritized for TMDL development based on the severity of each listing. Each state must submit a 303(d) list of impaired and threatened waters to EPA by April 1st of each even numbered year. EPA must review and approve or disapprove the 303(d) list within 30 days of submittal.

Wyoming’s Integrated 305(b) and 303(d) Report combines the requirements of both reports into a single document.  The current and previous versions of Wyoming’s Integrated 305(b) and 303(d) Report are available in the reports section of this site.

Contact
NAME/EMAIL ADDRESSPROGRAMPHONE
David Waterstreet, Program ManagerWatershed Program307-777-6709
Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Certification and Turbidity Waivers  
Eric Hargett (Cheyenne)CWA Section 401 Certification, Turbidity Waivers307-777-6701
Data Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC)  
Jillian Scott (Cheyenne)Data QA/QC307-777-6372
Nonpoint Source Pollution Program  
Alexandria Jeffers (Cheyenne)Nonpoint Source Program307-777-6733
Surface Water Monitoring Program  
Jeremy Zumberge, Program Supervisor (Sheridan)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-675-5638
Tavis Eddy (Lander)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-335-6957
Eric Hargett (Cheyenne)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-777-6701
Jason Martineau (Sheridan)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-675-5632
Triston Rice (Cheyenne)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-777-6353
Chad Rieger (Sheridan)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-675-5637
Michael Wachtendonk (Lander)Surface Water Monitoring Program307-335-6751
Surface Water Quality Standards  
Lindsay Patterson, Program Supervisor (Cheyenne)Surface Water Quality Standards307-777-7079
Kelsee Hurschman (Cheyenne)Surface Water Quality Standards, Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms307-777-2073
Madeleine Hamel (Cheyenne)Surface Water Quality Standards, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)307-777-7050
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program  
Ron Steg, Program Lead (Lander)Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)307-335-6980
Bret Callaway (Cheyenne)Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)307-777-5802
Water Quality Lab  
Steve Vien, Lab Supervisor (Cheyenne)Water Quality Lab307-777-7654
Alexandra Cook (Cheyenne)Water Quality Lab307-777-7151
Marisa Latady (Cheyenne)Water Quality Lab307-777-6783
Vacant (Cheyenne)Water Quality Lab307-777-3770
Guidance

This page contains a variety of downloadable Guidance documents pertaining to Water Quality Assessment procedures including:

  • Methods for Determining Surface Water Quality Condition

Reports

If the download box is not working below, please click here.

Interactive Map

Click on the map below to access Wyoming’s Assessed Waters, Surface Water Monitoring Locations, and TMDL Map.  This web map provides access to:

  • summary information about each of Wyoming’s lakes and streams that have been assessed against Wyoming’s water quality standards,
  • monitoring locations and links to data request portals,
  • and watersheds for which TMDLs have been completed.