Contributed by the CRA Board
Colorado Riparian Association wants to celebrate the end of another year of improving riverscapes for our communities. Our 37th (!!!) year has been marked by our Board and members working hard to share knowledge and energy, building on the for continued investment and engagement in Colorado’s river and riparian systems. This blog post summarizes our 2024 events, and includes some interesting insights (with a smattering of CRA history/trivia) from a couple of Q4 conferences, so read on…
Spring Social at New Terrain Brewery in Golden – May 1, 2024
On May 1, 2024, the CRA welcomed Donny Roush to speak to our members. Donny is the Stormwater Education and Outreach Coordinator for the City of Denver. In his role, he engages with schoolchildren across the city, educating them about the importance and value of our natural waterways. During the social hour, Donny presented a project he is leading, titled “Youth Development, Water Education, and the Colorado Water Plan.” The project aims to gather empirical evidence to enhance the quality of Colorado’s water education programs and materials, helping to make the 2050 vision of the Colorado Water Plan a reality for the state.
Stream Simulation Table for Engagement & Outreach
In 2024, CRA acquired a new stream simulation table. This innovative table features an idealized stream system, complete with connected floodplains, terraces, and an upper catchment area. It can simulate changes in runoff caused by land use changes in the upper catchment and also supports demonstrations and lessons on floodplain and riparian zone dynamics.
The table is versatile, enabling a wide range of demonstrations tailored to audiences of varying ages and levels of understanding. We are excited to incorporate this new tool into our efforts to enhance community engagement and outreach!
2025 CRA Elkhorn Creek Process-Based Restoration Exhibition Field Trip – August 22, 2024
Colorado Riparian Association (CRA) and Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) hosted a field trip to showcase two Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration (LTPBR) sites near Red Feather in the Poudre River Watershed. The first location, Lower Elkhorn, will be constructed in 2025, and is the site where stakeholders and participants discussed site selection, permitting, design considerations, and other planning activities. The second site, Upper Elkhorn, was constructed in 2022, and featured a discussion on implementation, system response, adaptive management, and monitoring. CRA provided transportation and food during the event. The event was filled with good conversation, information sharing, and excitement for the potential of these similar projects. What a beautiful day in the field west of Fort Collins!
Riparian Jeopardy Summer Social at Avogadro’s Number in Fort Collins – August 22, 2024
What better way to end a thrilling CRA day in northern Colorado than with cold drinks, good food, and a little friendly competition? We opened the doors at Avogadro’s Number in Fort Collins and invited everyone to join us for one of our all-time favorite games – Riparian Jeopardy!
The vibe was electric as the room filled with excited faces, CRA-sponsored beverages flowed, and sandwich platters disappeared faster than you could say “Salix exigua.” Teams assembled, ready to battle it out in a showdown of riparian knowledge that promised epic laughs, fist-pumping moments, and a tiny bit of trash talk.
Two rounds of nail-biting trivia later, it was time for Final Jeopardy. The stakes were high, the tension palpable, and in the end, one team emerged victorious, claiming the coveted crown (and ultimate bragging rights).
Cheers to everyone who joined in the fun!
CRA looks forward to bringing you more social events in 2025; members keep a close eye out for these events. We look forward to seeing you all in 2025!
Sustaining Colorado Watershed Conference in Avon – October 8-10, 2024
Perspective from first time attendees:
I was impressed by how tight knit the Colorado water conservation community felt and surprised by how approachable everyone was, regardless of their position in the field. I mostly attended the LTPBR panels and got some great ideas and feedback regarding my research. There were so many great topics being discussed and so many cool projects going on across the state, my only regret was not having time to attend all of the sessions.
Thanks again to CRA for providing me with the opportunity to join in on the SCW fun!
-Connor
Attending this conference was a great opportunity to step out of the university setting and connect with professionals working locally in this field. I attended sessions covering diverse topics, including Colorado River policy, small-scale agriculture, and, of course, LTPBR. Beyond enjoying good food and engaging conversations, I especially valued the chance to present my research at the poster session and discuss its relevance to on-the-ground projects with professionals.
Many thanks to CRA for organizing this event and providing a scholarship that supported both my research and attendance. A special shoutout to Ashley Garrison for being a wonderful mentor throughout the conference!
-Marin
An OG Decadal Musing Following SCW 2024 Conference (by Julie Ash, CRA President)
My given blog task was to share three sentences on the SCW 2024 conference from the OG perspective, having attended all 19 SCW conferences starting with our first one in Breckenridge in 2006. I ended up chasing my OG assignment back through the decades to the very first CRA conference – before we teamed up with partners to create the SCW conference – all the way back to 1989, the year CRA was formed. So, I am decimating my three-sentence directive and sharing the following facts that even long-time SCW delegates might not know:
- CRA’s first conference was in 1989…and has no online records because everything was paper then and CRA electronic archives only go back to 1998. Our best bet for pre-1998 is whatever is still retained in the brains of Randy Mandel and Brenda Mitchell, early CRA Presidents.
- CRA’s founding conference practice was to alternate our conference location between the Front Range and the Western Slope year to year. We visited Brush, Colorado one year with Dr. LeRoy Poff, Colorado State University delivering our keynote address.
- CRA’s last conference without SCW partners was our 17 th in 2005 and we traveled to Durango to hear speakers including Kirk Klancke with Trout Unlimited, Kenneth Lair with the Bureau of Reclamation, and George Annandale, then President of Engineering and Hydrosystems, cover altered stream flow, saltcedar infestation, and geomorphic response, respectively.
- The first SCW conference was held in Breckenridge in 2006 (SCW2006), bringing together three Colorado advocacy groups that had been hosting individual conferences in prior decades. It took many years to change people’s habits from calling the SCW conference the “CRA conference” or the “Colorado Watershed Assembly (CWA) conference”.
- SCW2006 included presentations by an OG crew that’s been advocating for rivers and riparian areas for a very long time. Names you should know (and we should thank) include Chuck Rhoades with USFS, Terri Schulz with TNC, Rob Buirgy with River Network and more, Barb Horn with CPW, John Elliott with USGS, Jacob Bornstein with CWCB and more, and Alan Carpenter and Ed Self with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV). Oh, and little ‘ole me presented in 2006 too!
- The SCW partnership actually started in 2006 with CRA, CWA, and the Colorado Watershed Network (CWN), led by Jacob Bornstein at the time. And did you know that additional SCW partners through time have included the Colorado Lake and Reservoir Management Association (CLRMA) and AWARE Colorado.
- SCW moved to Avon in 2008, transitioning from our (2-year) roots in Breckenridge to the Westin Riverfront in Avon, which has been our happy home ever since.
- The year 2009 saw a new SCW partner, the Colorado Foundation for Water Education (CFWE), under the leadership of Nicole Seltzer, now with the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign and also well-known for shepherding Colorado Stream Management Plans (SMP) while at River Network.
- The year 2017 was the first SCW conference hosted by CRA, CWA, and the newly renamed Water Education Colorado (WECo), previously CFWE.
- SCW2020 and SCW2021 carried us through covid times. We were fully virtual for SCW2020 and we braved the hybrid challenge for SCW2021, thankfully returning to in-person conferences with SCW2022.
- CRA/SCW conferences have touched FIVE DECADES: the 80’s, the 90’s, the 00’s, the 10’s, and now the 20’s. Wow.
- SCW2024 was our 19 th annual conference, which means that this year – 2025 – is our 20 th conference. Be sure to join us October 7 th to 9 th at the Westin Riverfront in Avon, Colorado for SCW2025, the 20 th anniversary!
- As a bonus and to close this out, here are a couple of CRA non-conference-related facts for you:
- The CRA Greenline is the all-paper, sent via snail mail predecessor to today’s CRA Blog. The Greenline was led for over a decade by fearless co-editors Jay Thompson, BLM, and Bill Goosmann, CDOT, under the tagline of “keeping the greenline green.”
- A mainstay of the CRA Greenline publication was the “legal briefing” prepared by Larry Macdonnell, Director of the Natural Resources Law Center at CU School of Law, CRA member, and all around great legal mind. For each Greenline issue, Larry summarized the legal precedents we needed to know on topics including Colorado water law, the Endangered Species Act, and new Supreme Court rulings under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act…anyone remember SWANCC?
- In 2015, CRA’s Greenline paper publication switched to the online blog that continues today, led by CRA Board Member, Kim Lennberg.
- CRA is now in our 37th year! We’ve accomplished a lot since our 1989 beginning “by a small group of dreamers who believed that our riparian zones should not become sacrifice areas.”
- I have unending gratitude to our CRA leaders and members contributing for decades to CRA’s mission “to promote the conservation, restoration, and preservation of Colorado’s riparian areas and wetlands.” Thank you, all.
BeaverCON Social Event at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder Co-Hosted with Boulder Watershed Collective – October 20, 2024
As a way for the locals to kick off the international 500+ person BeaverCON conference in our home state and watersheds, CRA joined forces with the Boulder Watershed Collective to host a fun and well-attended happy hour at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder in mid-October 2024. More than 200 guests from all over the US (and a few international attendees) came together to share food, drinks, and unbridled enthusiasm and excitement about all things beaver! People were so excited to learn about CRA and BWC and to talk about the benefits beavers bring to riparian and wetland ecosystems and how to harness these amazing natural wonders for the health of our watersheds.
