Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 106 provides funding for monitoring and assessing water qualities of the United States. A significant portion goes directly to states to administer their programs, a small portion also goes to tribes in each EPA region. EPA Region 8, the Rocky Mountain Region, is home to 27 tribes, and most have a CWA Section 106-funded water pollution prevention program. While each tribe has its own priorities and goals, all have benefited through this program. EPA Region 8 Water Quality Success Stories showcases the water quality improvements, on-the-ground projects, and programs that have benefited water quality greatly in EPA Region 8 Indian Country.

Non Point Source Pollution in general is a lot of small amounts of pollutants from several or more sources that are not major sources alone, but when they are combined they can cause large pollution issues.

In 2001, runoff from the burn areas on Mesa Verde dumped tons of ash and sediment in the Mancos River, covering fish spawning areas and smothering aquatic life. To make matters worse, the Mancos River literally dried up in the summer of 2002 as a result of water diversions for irrigation and a 300-year drought that gripped the area. Back From the Brink is an account of the fish recovery efforts by the UMUT in the Mancos River and was published in Colorado Outdoors magazine.