TU and Allies Partner on More than $5.7 Million of Collaborative Projects Funded

On March 13, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) approved 52 Water Plan Grant applications today, which will distribute $17.4 million to fund critical projects to manage and conserve water, improve agriculture, promote watershed health, spark collaborative partnerships, and much more.

Among the approved Water Plan Grant projects were $3.28 million in projects being managed by Trout Unlimited in Colorado:

• A $1.5 million collaboration with agricultural users on Elk Creek, a key spawning tributary to the middle Colorado, to modernize infrastructure to improve its reliability for irrigators while improving efficiency and opening up more than 7 miles of habitat to fish passage;

• A $287,000 partnership with ag users on nearby Canyon Creek, which will have similar diverse benefits including opening 1.5 miles of spawning habitat to fish passage;

• A $1 million collaboration coordinated by the Boulder Flycasters to advance design and permitting for multiple diversion structures along South Boulder Creek, helping set the stage for restored fish passage, improved habitat, and the ability to shepherd low flow releases through the system to maintain winter flows; and

• A $491,000 collaborative pilot project and study with NTU staff partnering with irrigators in western Colorado to evaluate productivity and drought resilience for alternative forage crops that consume less water.
  
  

The CWCB also approved a $100,000 Water Supply Reserve Fund grant to the Dolores River Anglers chapter of TU in support of collaborative restoration work on the West Fork Dolores, a part of the chapter’s ongoing partnership with local water users and the Dolores Water Conservancy District, the US Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and other local stakeholders to improve watershed health and resilience in the face of a changing climate.

Along with these TU-led partnerships, projects in which TU is collaborating with efforts led by other conservation and water management allies accounted for another nearly $2.5 million in Water Plan grants – including efforts to benefit the Colorado headwaters (Learning by Doing and the Kawuneeche Valley Restoration Coalition), the Purgatoire River (Purgatoire Watershed Partnership), and the Conejos River (Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation).

“When the Colorado Water Plan was developed and later revised, we saw its potential for encouraging multi-benefit projects and collaborations, and helping to conserve the health of rivers and watersheds,” said David Nickum, Colorado TU Executive Director.  “The diverse range of cooperative projects that CWCB has funded this year are a great illustration of how the plan is delivering those real benefits to Colorado.”

“Water is on the top of many Coloradans’ minds. And the projects this program funds are critical to meet and mitigate our state’s most critical water challenges,”said Lauren Ris, CWCB Director.“We received significantly more applications than we had funding for this cycle of Water Plan Grants, showing just how much demand there is for this important funding, and how critical it is that we continue to fuel this effort.”

Every year, the Water Plan Grant Program provides millions of dollars of funding for projects in five key categories: Water Storage & Supply, Conservation & Land Use, Engagement & Innovation, Agricultural Projects, and Watershed Health & Recreation. Water Plan Grants support the Colorado Water Plan, and funded projects are wide-ranging and impactful to the state, focusing on enhancing water infrastructure, restoring ecosystems, supporting education and community collaboration, boosting water conservation and efficiency, guiding resilient land use planning, and more.