LONGMONT - The St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District is leveraging money, made possible through a 2020 voter approved ballot measure, with grants and other sources to advance $2.3 million in projects with five community partners. The projects will restore streams, protect against catastrophic wildfire
impacts on drinking water, improve ditch infrastructure, and educate the public about water.
In 2024, the District is partnering with and funding the Boulder Valley and Longmont Conservation Districts, Dave Miller Mutual Ditch Company, Grama Grass and Livestock, Larimer Conservation District, Supply Ditch Company, Town of Lyons, and The Watershed Center. 2024 marks the third year the District offered funding
through their Partner Funding Program. Including $312,500 earmarked for 2024, the District has awarded 19 partners a total of $830,000, leveraging those dollars for more than $3.8M (362 per cent) towards shovel-ready water projects in the St. Vrain watershed.
“These partnerships continue the District’s strong history of collaboration,” said Sean Cronin, executive director of the St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District. “Each project advances our goals the voters approved in 2020: to protect water quality, maintain healthy rivers and creeks, support local food production,
and protect forests that are critical to our water supply,” he added.
|
The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership (SVFHP) is a collaborative of 100+ partners including fire districts, agencies, towns, and community members working to prepare the landscape and community to receive wildland fire as a natural part of the ecosystem for the benefit of people, forests, and drinking water. A majority of the District’s $256,500 awarded to TWC will go to landscape-scale planning, project implementation, and support of the SVFHP’s outreach and education efforts.
“We couldn’t accomplish this important work without the District’s support as a partner and funder, and we are grateful to our community who voted for the ballot
initiative,” said Yana Sorokin, Executive Director of The Watershed Center. The Larimer Conservation District (LCD) is working alongside the SVFHP to develop forest management plans on private properties and conduct forest treatments to reduce risk of catastrophic wildfires. These properties are northeast of Ralph Price Reservoir, the District’s largest drinking water resource. “These funds will help to reduce wildfire risk to this and other important surface waters,” explained Dylan Alsbach, Forestry Program Manager of LCD.
Boulder Valley and Longmont Conservation Districts (BVLCD) is also an established member of the SVFHP and multi-year recipient of District Partner Funding. This year marks their third year partnering with the District to implement fire mitigation across the basin. “District funding helps us to plan years ahead and complete large-acre projects” said Rob Walker, General Manager of BVLCD.
In addition to forest restoration, the District is partnering with Dave Miller Mutual Ditch Company (DMMDC) and Supply Ditch Company (SDC). The District’s financial contributions to these projects will help lead local agriculture ditch infrastructure improvements using novel solutions, materials, and technology.
Matt Rooney, DMMDC President, stated, “The Dave Miller Ditch project will deliver water to shareholders who, for the most part, have been without [irrigation] water since 2013.”
In addition to addressing water delivery infrastructure improvements, the District is partnering with Grama Grass and Livestock for a three (3) year project to investigate how regenerative agriculture practices can restore native grasslands and wetlands. “We rotate our cows and use grazing pressure mimicking historic bison herds to address a number of current-day land management challenges” said Emily Gallagher, Regenerative Resources Manager at Grama Grass and Livestock. “So far we’re seeing promising soil health and moisture retention improvements.”
The Town of Lyons is using District funding to complete one of the final remaining stream restoration projects to correct 2013 flood damage along St. Vrain Creek through Lyons. Tracy Sanders, Lyons Flood Recovery Lead, said the District’s funds will “improve safety to residents and will also protect potential impacts to stream health.”
*************************
