DEQ Reports Nitrates in Wyoming Community Linked to Septic Systems

For the community of Hoback Junction, Wyoming, access to clean drinking water is not a new issue. But a recent investigation by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and its subsequent report is providing definitive answers to the source of contaminants.

The primary concern for residents is the area’s drinking water and its high concentration of nitrates, which regularly exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum allowable nitrate concentration for human consumption of 10 milligrams per liter.

Phil Powers, executive director of Protect Our Waters Jackson Hole, told Mountain Journal that anything above 2-3 milligrams per liter indicates some human intervention causing the water to be compromised.

The investigation examined the potential cause of elevated nitrates in groundwater in Hoback Junction, which has a population of around 1,600 people. According to the report, "it appears that the major known source of nitrates in groundwater is related to the density of domestic septic systems in the area." Fertilizers, wildlife and livestock can also influence nitrate levels.

Consuming high levels of nitrates can be harmful to respiratory and reproductive systems, and it can also be dangerous for fetuses and infants, according to the EPA.

Current studies, such as this report in Environmental Research and Public Health, indicate that chronic exposure may be associated with enhanced risk of digestive system cancers and adverse reproductive outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth or central nervous system defects in infants. High concentrations in surface water can cause algae blooms that threaten wildlife.  

To date, it is unconfirmed whether Hoback residents have experienced health issues related to enhanced nitrate levels in the area’s groundwater. Phone calls to Wyoming DEQ and the Wyoming Department of Health seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Hoback Junction sits south of Jackson Hole and is not on a public sewer line. Many residents drill private wells that tap into groundwater. “Because septic systems add effluent nearby, many of these wells produce substandard water including higher nitrate levels,” Powers said.

Powers said the issue affects hundreds of people in the Hoback community. Between 2022 and 2024, his organization funded and distributed over 10,000 gallons of clean drinking water to more than 50 Hoback Junction households as a temporary solution.

"I feel like we're swimming upstream, no pun intended, with regard to treating water in a place where we ought to be simultaneously or previously dealing with the root cause," he said. "I think in time we will discover other places in our Valley where similar issues exist."

Through a special voter-approved excise tax in 2022, the county has funded $3 million for a water treatment plant to deliver clean water to Hoback residents. The facility will treat water from the Snake River, but Powers says it likely won't be completed for at least a few years. And he isn't convinced this is the perfect solution to the problem.

“People have a right to clean water,” Powers said, “and it's our responsibility as governance bodies to make sure they have access to it."

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