❄ Wrapping up 2022 in the Upper CO River Watershed ❄

By | Community, UCRWG Updates | No Comments

🥳 Cheers to a great year! 🥳

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2023 from all of us here at UCRWG! 🥂

Whew! 2022 certainly flew by and what a year it was! We had a productive year here at UCRWG, monitoring conditions along the North Fork, helping local landowners impacted by the East Troublesome Fire implement restoration projects, educating kids and adults alike about the importance of watershed health, and providing detailed comments on the 2023 Water Plan from the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

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GET INVOLVED! Join the UCRWG Board of Directors!

By | UCRWG Updates | No Comments

The Upper Colorado River Watershed Group is GROWING! 

We are looking to add new talent and fresh perspectives to our Board of Directors

 

The Board of Directors is actively involved in organizational governance, program development and implementation, overseeing our annual budget and meeting fundraising goals, and navigating UCRWG into the future. Board members are all volunteers who are passionate about preserving and restoring the health, beauty and sustainability of the Upper Colorado River for generations to come.

We are looking for a variety of skills to fill multiple Board vacancies, with a strong emphasis on looking for candidates with prior fundraising experience or an eagerness to jump into the world of nonprofit fundraising. We would also LOVE to connect with candidates with nonprofit management skills or a professional background in Colorado Water Law.
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UCRWG Ramps Up Wildfire Restoration with CDPHE Watershed Grant

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UCRWG gives a hearty THANK YOU to our new project sponsors, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)

 

UCRWG staff member Becca Hofmeister and Project Scientist Tiffany Gatesman monitor water quality in the North Fork.

We are excited to announce that we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and getting to work this summer on some much-needed restoration projects along the North Fork!

Thanks to a generous CDPHE grant and the ongoing support of people like YOU, UCRWG will be helping to address the impacts of climate change and wildfire in this vital artery of the Colorado River. 

It was the hard work and dedication of UCRWG Vice President and Grand Lake resident Ken Fucik that secured the $190K grant to promote wildfire restoration along the North Fork of the Colorado River (NFCR). CDPHE identified UCRWG as a local, grassroots organization well-positioned to help local private and municipal stakeholders grapple with post-wildfire restoration. 

Working with Estella Moore and the CDPHE Nonpoint Source Pollution Management (NPS) Program, funding will be used to bolster ongoing UCRWG efforts in the NFCR watershed northwest of Grand Lake. Colorado’s NPS Program blends Federal and State regulations with industry Best Management Practices (BMPs) to meet cost-effective goals.  

UCRWG will be helping local stakeholders implement watershed-based BMPs, including:

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Drone Photos

By | Community, UCRWG Updates, Waterkeeper Alliance | No Comments
 

Melting ice on Shadow Mountain Reservoir (April 27, 2021)

 

Spring melt in the Three Lakes region (April 27, 2021)

 

Spring melt (April 27, 2021)

 

Weed growth in the North Fork River (April 27, 2021)

 

Weed patch in the North Fork (April 27, 2021)

 

Discharge from pumping (April 27, 2021)

 

Weed growth (April 27, 2021)

 

Weed growth in the North Fork (April 27, 2021)

 

Side channel between islands in SMR (April 27, 2021)

 

Ice remaining in SMR (May 26, 2021)

 

Water in channel between islands (May 26, 2021)

 

Weed growth along the shore (May 26, 2021)

 

Weed and algae growth along the shore (May 26, 2021)

 

Shadow Mountain Reservoir, with a white film on the surface from the coagulation of dissolved organic carbon (June 7, 2021)

 

White film on the surface of Shadow Mountain Reservoir from coagulation of dissolved organic carbon (June 7, 2021)

 

A closer look at the dissolved organic carbon on the surface of SMR (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth and white film from coagulation of dissolved organic carbon (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth and sediment runoff from the North Fork into Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth in Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth and coagulation of dissolved organic carbon into a white film on the surface of Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth in Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

North Fork River (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth and coagulation of dissolved organic carbon on Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

Sediment runoff from the North Fork and coagulation of dissolved organic carbon into a white film (June 7, 2021)

 

Discharge from the North Fork into Shadow Mountain Reservoir (June 7, 2021)

 

Weed growth in the North Fork (June 7, 2021)

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Interview with UCRWG President Andy Miller

By | CO Riverkeepers, Community, Just Ask UCRWG, UCRWG Updates | No Comments

Who has the right to the water in Grand County?

And how does water in Grand County end up flowing over the Continental Divide?

UCRWG Board President Andy Miller exploring the watershed by canoe.

Here at UCRWG, we’re fighting to protect the health and sustainability of the Upper Colorado River watershed for the long-term. To us, that means keeping the water that is in the watershed flowing through our streams and rivers, NOT increasing how much water is sent over to the Front Range before it even hits our watershed. Why? Because we see proposed increases in transbasin water diversions as threatening the ecological stability of the watershed as a whole.

But what are transbasin diversions? What’s going on with water in Grand County? And how is UCRWG President Andy Miller connected to your last overnight trip to the Broome hut?

Check out this in-depth interview with John Sanderson at Grand County Matters to learn more! Some great lunch time listening to learn more about Grand County.