What Has All That Stream Management Planning Accomplished?

Contributed by Nicole Seltzer, Colorado Basin Program Director, River Network

Colorado’s Water Plan put forth dozens of ideas, among them a new kind of watershed planning that focused on flows and the health of the river corridor. CWCB has invested over $4 million in Stream Management Plans (SMPs) to date, with local communities matching that amount. What has this $8 million accomplished?

“Local residents and staff from City of Alamosa are more aware, educated, and interested in the Rio Grande’s ecology, water quality, and flow patterns. Awareness among agricultural and municipal stakeholders has increased as a result of involvement in the river health assessment review process, and water-sharing agreements—such as the Conejos River Flow Program—are more widely understood as a result of the SMP process.”

Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project

Twenty-six communities have initiated an SMP since 2015, with eleven plans completed resulting in over 250 different projects and strategies to protect and improve river health and sustainable water use. In a recent look back, CWCB and River Network quantified the accomplishments of the program, as well as looked forward at new ideas to increase momentum and impact. 

The report, Stream Management Plans in Colorado, Progress at 5 Years, outlines recommendations from state agency staff, non-profit conservationists, and the leaders of SMPs that can be implemented via the update to Colorado’s Water Plan, by grassroots conservation and agriculture organizations, and by community leaders across Colorado.