Conifer monitoring shows stable groundwater levels but rising dissolved solids and PFAS tests prompt concern

Conifer — Data compiled by the Conifer Area Council's water resources study action team indicate that, for the 10 locally monitored wells, average water levels have remained largely stable in recent years, but presenters warned that water quality is an emerging and more urgent concern for the community.

At a Conifer Area Council town hall, co-chair (speaker 1) said the mountain community “really are entirely dependent on groundwater from wells,” emphasizing that fractured crystalline bedrock controls local supply and makes yields highly variable from well to well. John Wallach, the study co-chair, presented mapped monitoring results for the Conifer activity center and described the team’s method for extracting static-water-level points from long-term hydrographs.

"Average water levels are looking stable from the ones that we can see for 10 wells," Wallach said, summarizing the group's monitoring work and five-year linear trend analyses. He cautioned, however, that stability in levels does not remove pressure from the system because climate-driven changes in snowpack and evapotranspiration could reduce recharge over time.

Water-quality findings were the meeting’s most urgent takeaway. Wallach reported that Conifer Metro District (CMD) received a notice of violation in 2019 for exceeding 400 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids (TDS). He showed trend lines that place CMD and Aspen Park Metro District at substantially higher TDS concentrations in recent records, and he identified road de-icing materials and other human sources as likely contributors.

Wallach also raised PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — as a new area of regulatory focus. He noted recent EPA guidance proposing parts-per-trillion limits for several PFAS compounds and said nearby public systems, including Conifer High School and South Evergreen, have reported detections above proposed reporting or action thresholds. Wallach said treatment for PFAS typically relies on reverse osmosis or activated carbon and that federal infrastructure grants are funding testing and treatment work.“PFAS ... are forever chemicals,” he said, noting the potential complexity and cost of long-term treatment and cartridge disposal.

The presenters repeatedly stressed data limitations: there are few active local stream gauges, recharge and underflow are estimated, and well pumping is not metered, which constrains precise water-balance calculations. The study team urged continued community cooperation to expand monitoring and to track both level and quality trends.

The panel offered to answer questions after presentations; the seminar took a brief break and said it would post the recording on the Conifer Area Council website.