The State of the Watershed Report is the first step in creating a comprehensive, practical, broadly-accepted Watershed Plan for the Roaring Fork Watershed. The report is based on the premise that we need to know about existing conditions before planning how best to use, conserve, restore, and develop those resources. It puts us, as a community, in position to translate the mass of its data and findings into action in the form of a Watershed Plan that will be the product of Phase II of the watershed planning process.

Phase II will include a set of goals and objectives developed through citizen input and in consultation with governments and water managers who have an interest in the water resources of the Roaring Fork Watershed. In addition, Phase II of the Plan will include recommendations to local water planners, managers, and governments regarding future water management policies and activities. Those recommendations will contribute to the accomplishment of the Plan’s goals and objectives. Recommendations will be developed in a cooperative, collaborative process.

The process for creating the Watershed Plan will include the following elements:
• A series of public meetings to present the State of the Watershed Report to the public and local government officials and to solicit discussion and debate on the report’s findings;
• The convening of a Technical Committee, made up of water resource experts and professionals, that will help to assess the practical, technical, legal, and scientific validity of the Plan’s goals, objectives and recommendations;
• Meetings with local elected officials; local, regional, state, and federal water and land managers; and private water managers to review, discuss, and reach consensus on Plan recommendations that are mutually supportive and practical; and
• Composition of a narrative report including goals and objectives, recommended actions, implementation strategies, monitoring programs, and future studies.

Phase II of the Roaring Fork Watershed Plan will begin immediately following the release of the State of the Watershed Report. Phase II will require an ongoing effort by involved individuals, agencies, governments, and organizations if it is to succeed. The process will be overseen by the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, as was Phase I. Primary project management will be undertaken by the Roaring Fork Conservancy and its subcontractors. We invite readers to check local media outlets and relevant websites (including the site of Roaring Fork Conservancy, www.roaringfork.org and the Ruedi Water and Power Authority www.rwapa.org ) for further information and for opportunities to participate in Phase II. - Mark Fuller, Executive Director, Ruediw Water & Power Authority

Watershed Plan – Why is it so Important?
If you are a visitor to or a resident of the Roaring Fork Valley, then the Roaring Fork Watershed Plan is important to you! Now, you see water in the river and streams, but it is not always there. In the summer of 2002, the worst drought in 100-years, the Roaring Fork River went dry as it made its way through the City of Aspen. Scientists tell us that we are likely to see more drought conditions more frequently in the future.

There are many important uses of the Roaring Fork River and its tributaries. This is where we get our drinking water, water for snowmaking, recreation, irrigation, and waste treatment. When flows in the Watershed are disrupted due to natural or human causes, we all suffer. The four counties and five towns that comprise the entire Watershed have joined with Ruedi Water and Power Authority and the Colorado River District to create a new and comprehensive “owners’ manual” for the Roaring Fork Watershed. This plan, consisting of (1) the State of the Watershed Report and (2) the Watershed Plan will provide all of us with the scientific data and tools to protect the Watershed and all of its benefits for ourselves, for our children and for future generations to come.

Read more of the July 2007 update

Citizens Give Input at First Roaring Fork Watershed Plan Meeting
FEBRUARY 26, 2007: About 60 valley residents, from ranchers to kayakers to water lawyers, turned out at Basalt High School on February 22 to learn about and discuss the development of a Roaring Fork Watershed Plan. Part of Phase I of the Watershed Plan development, the meeting generated loads of enthusiasm that the Roaring Fork Watershed could develop a united voice from the many different stakeholders in our river and water resources.

Mark Fuller, Executive Director of Ruedi Water and Power Authority, the sponsoring agency for the plan, and Rick Lofaro, Executive Director of Roaring Fork Conservancy, presented some of the threats and issues facing the Roaring Fork Watershed in the coming years. “We want to face these issues proactively as a united front,” says Lofaro. “Tonight was a great opportunity for the community to begin voicing their interest and concerns.”

Among the issues that surfaced was a need to address transbasin and in-basin diversions. “About 35-40% of the Fryingpan and 35-40% of the upper Roaring Fork water is going east and there is potential for more to go east in the future,” says Mark Fuller. “People responded tonight that keeping water in our rivers is a high priority.” Other issues participants brought up included looking at Roaring Fork water issues on a regional scale, addressing climate change, focusing on groundwater, addressing development pressures, and monitoring water quality. Better educating the public was also cited as an on-going need that the plan should implement. Fuller stressed that those basins which have the best understanding of their local resources and needs will be in the best negotiating position and will be best able to defend their interests against the demands of the Front Range, growing populations downriver, and increasing sustainability issues.

The first of three planned public meetings for 2007, this meeting gave citizens the chance to enter into the process of developing a comprehensive watershed plan. Broad and diverse stakeholder input has been cited as vital for this process and plan organizers stress that increased public involvement will be key to the plan’s success. “This is an important grassroots public process,” explained Gwen Garcelon the facilitator for Thursday’s meeting. “Just because things are the way they are doesn’t mean we as a group of citizens can’t change them. If protecting our water is something we want to do, we must use this kind of process to come together and create a strong public mandate to change our laws, policies, and attitudes towards water. Throughout history, the greatest social change has happened when citizens organized and made it ‘good politics’ to change.”

For background and updates on the initiative to develop a watershed plan, go to www.roaringfork.org/watershedplan. The website also includes a brief feedback form where community members are encouraged to offer their comments and concerns regarding the watershed for use in the planning process.

Watershed Plan gets green light and greenbacks
JANUARY 8, 2007: If global warming, dry stream beds, and Roaring Fork water being diverted to the Front Range keeps you up at night, you’re in for some good news for a change. The first, comprehensive watershed plan for the Roaring Fork Valley is moving forward under the sponsorship of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority. The Authority approved Phase I of the Watershed Plan project at their December meeting, including a contract with Roaring Fork Conservancy to take the lead on the planning effort. “We can now start spending money on this vital community effort,” said Mark Fuller, RWAPA’s Executive Director. RWAPA approved work on the Plan at their quarterly meeting on December 6, 2006.

An outgrowth of two years of volunteer work by numerous Valley non-profits and government agencies, including the Nature Conservancy, the Roaring Fork Conservancy and the Colorado River Water Conservation District, the Watershed Plan is now officially sponsored by Ruedi Water and Power Authority. The RWAPA board is comprised of one elected official from each county, city and town in the Roaring Fork Valley. Most of these jurisdictions have also committed funds from their respective 2007 budgets for Phase I of the Plan, a State of the Watershed Report. The Ruedi Water and Power Authority is dedicating $20,000 from their reserve funds to support Phase I of the Plan. The Colorado River Water Conservation District and Gunnison County have also contributed funds to the project. The Authority has also received the endorsement of the Colorado River Basin Roundtable for a grant of $40,000 to come from State of Colorado water planning funds. The State grant request will go to the Colorado Water Conservation Board for final approval at that Board’s next meeting on January 23-24. If that approval is granted, the majority of the $115,000 Phase I budget will be secured.

According to Fuller, “Our initial activity, which has been underway for several months, is stakeholder outreach and involvement.” This part of the project has been funded by an Environmental Protection Agency grant to Roaring Fork Conservancy. Fuller said, “We have been going out to ranchers, water lawyers, river recreation companies, homeowner associations, and others to find out their concerns about the river and to get them involved in the process. We will be scheduling a public meeting in February to broaden the public participation process – watch for an announcement in the next few weeks.”

The State of the Watershed Report is scheduled to be completed in November 2007 and the Final Plan a year later. For more information, please contact Mark Fuller, Director, Ruedi Water and Power Authority, 963-4959 or fulcon@rof.net.