Partner Funding Program
List of current projects in alphabetical order for easy searching
Protect water quality and drinking water sources
Safeguard and Conserve Water Supplies
Grow local food
Store water for dry years
Maintain Healthy Rivers and Creeks
One method of partnership is the Partner Funding Program launched in late 2021. The first years have been extremely successful, and the District and partners look forward to completing a variety of projects in the future.
Learn more about our 5 point water plan
Partner Funding Program Projects
Agriculture Water Use Efficiency and Telemetry
Boulder County Parks and Open Space
We are helping Boulder County optimize how they water agricultural land to build drought resiliency, improve the yield of available water, and protect the long-term viability of agriculture in the county. To achieve this goal, we are helping them install 18 flow measuring devices on pivot/lateral sprinklers as well as soil moisture sensors to monitor and manage how they water 2,350 acres.
Agriculture Soil Health and Education
Citizen Science Soil Health Project
The Citizen Science Soil Health Project (CSSHP) is a 10-year-long project to help growers prove that they are improving their soil’s health. We helped design and construct a website featuring findings from special projects they have done over time, including video profiles of three organic and three conventional growers who are trying new techniques to improve their soil’s health.
Balarat Education Center Mine Reclamation
Trout Unlimited
We are partnering with Trout Unlimited on their 2022 Balarat Outdoor Education Abandoned Mine Lands Project to support safe access to educational sites, to improve environmental conditions at three abandoned mine sites on Balarat Outdoor Education Center lands and to enhance the environmental resiliency of those areas.
Ditch Piping Project
Dave Miller Mutual Ditch Company
The District is working with the Dave Miller Mutual Ditch Company to make the Dave Miller Ditch operable once again, after damage incurred during the 2013 flood. This phase of the project expands on previously completed headgate automation by solar power and seeks to further modernize the system by piping. The project will be an example of options available to other small ditches in the basin.
Elk Park Forest Restoration
Larimer Conservation District
The District partnered with the Larimer Conservation District to complete wildfire mitigation on over 300 acres in the Elk Park area northwest of Ralph Price Reservoir, the District’s largest source of drinking water. Although the project is directly outside of District boundaries, it expands treatments on adjacent National Forest land and fuel breaks to help reduce fire risk to the Ralph Price Reservoir and other water resources within District boundaries.
Forest Restoration in Action
Longmont and Boulder Valley Conservation Districts
We partnered with Boulder Valley and Longmont Conservation Districts to complete planning and preliminary implementation of a project to mitigate the threat of wildfire in the area. With District funding, BVLCD developed forest management plans and decreased tree density through active forest management practices while simultaneously promoting native wildflower and wildlife habitats, protecting water quality, and building ecological resilience.
Forest Restoration in Action
Longmont and Boulder Valley Conservation Districts
We are working with the Longmont and Boulder Valley Conservation Districts to fund continued forest restoration efforts. Previously we worked together to create forest management plans, and now efforts will continue to plan and implement forest restoration and fire mitigation projects on private property.
Land Monitoring and Education
Grama Grass and Livestock
We are partnering with Grama Grass and Livestock to educate the public on the benefits of holistically managing livestock on public and private land. The project will study and share about regenerative agriculture, and how it increases drought resiliency and reduces water runoff and erosion, all while producing local food. The goal: restore native grasslands in and around Boulder County while producing regeneratively raised and grass-fed local beef.
Landscape-Scale Forest Restoration and Education
The Watershed Center
We funded work by The Watershed Center to protect water supplies through collaborative forest restoration by beginning to implement the recommendations in the St. Vrain and Left Hand Stream Management Plan (SMP) and St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership Plan. This started with public outreach and education as well as beginning to develop and coordinate needed projects.
Resilient Rivers and Forests
The Watershed Center
We are partnering with The Watershed Center to protect water supplies through collaborative landscape-scale forest and river restoration. This restoration is based on recommendations in the St. Vrain and Left Hand Stream Management Plan (SMP), St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership Plan and Basin-wide Adaptive Management Plan.
Resilient Rivers and Forests
The Watershed Center
The District is partnering with The Watershed Center in another year of implementing the Resilient Rivers and Forests Project. The project aims to protect water supplies through collaborative landscape-scale forest and river restoration based on recommendations in the St. Vrain and Left Hand Stream Management Plan (“SMP”), St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership (“SVFHP”) Plan and Basin-wide Adaptive Management Plan. As described in the SMP, water supplies across the St. Vrain and Left Hand Watershed are vulnerable to increased sediment inputs, debris flows, and flash floods that can follow high-severity wildfires. Forests across the St. Vrain and Left Hand Watershed are also vulnerable to high-severity wildfires due to climate change and prior fire suppression. The project will leverage ongoing collaborative momentum, and includes three key components: outreach and education, cross boundary forest restoration, and river restoration.
Streambank Restoration Design
Town of Lyons
The District is partnering with the Town of Lyons to develop designs for restoring a streambank just downstream of the Highland Diversion on St. Vrain Creek in Lyons, CO. This is one of the last streambank restoration projects identified by the Town of Lyons in response to the 2013 flood. Once designs are completed, the Town of Lyons will be seeking partners for construction. The project benefits creek health as well as the affordable housing residents above this stretch of stream.
Supply Ditch Repairs
Supply Ditch Company
The District partnered with the Supply Ditch Company to line a section of the ditch just east of Lyons. The 1,000-1,2000-foot section of the ditch will be lined to protect water supplies by reducing ditch losses, which are estimated to be up to 45%+ of losses along the entire 40-mile ditch. The Supply Ditch Company proposes to line and reinforce the 1,000-1,200-foot section with the greatest losses.
Water Conservation Program Expansion
City of Longmont
We are helping fund the expansion of outdoor water conservation programs to more community members in the City of Longmont and the Town of Lyons. Programs include Garden in a Box and Lawn Replacement programs that help local residents swap or add more water-wise plants to their yards.
Water Measurement and Telemetry
Left Hand Ditch Company
We are helping the Left Hand Ditch Company purchase and install five additional water measurement data loggers and associated telemetry at Left Hand Park Reservoir and Gold Lake Reservoir. This will improve the tracking of creek flows and water uses to protect local water rights, improve water administration for beneficial uses, and manage water to help with climate uncertainty.
THE JAMESTOWN FIRE MITIGATION PROJECT
The Watershed Center, Lefthand Fire Protection District, and the Longmont and Boulder Valley Conservation Districts
While this project is not part of the District’s Partner Funding Program, the District collaborated with local partners to prepare Jamestown for future wildfires. Two major fires have already damaged the area in recent years. When a fire occurs, this project will provide a critical location for firefighters to be deployed safely. It will reduce risk to the Jamestown community and surrounding areas and decrease the likelihood of high-severity fire that would harm water resources and ecosystem health. The project also provided free fire mitigation to specific private and public properties. It included public outreach and coordination, and pre- and post-project monitoring from the forest to the creek.
ST. VRAIN & LEFT HAND WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT
1715 Iron Horse Drive, Suite 250
Longmont, CO 80501
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 303-772-4060
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