CPRW Receives Funds for Phase 2 of the Upper Cache la Poudre Watershed Wildfire Ready Action Plan

An aerial view of the Cameron Peak burn area in the Upper Poudre Watershed.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) created the Wildfire Ready Watersheds Program to implement Senate Bill 21-240. Signed by Governor Polis in June 2021, the SB 21-240 legislation directed CWCB to assess the susceptibility of Colorado’s water resources, communities, and critical infrastructure to post-wildfire impacts and advance a program to assist communities in planning and implementing mitigation strategies to minimize these impacts.

The CWCB is working with scientists, engineers, and local communities to identify our most vulnerable watersheds and to develop and implement strategies to lessen the long-term effects that wildfires have on our stream corridors, water infrastructure, and community assets.

The Poudre watershed is no stranger to large, high-severity wildfire. In the last 12 years, close to 300,000 acres of the watershed have burned. These fires resulted in long-term impacts to watershed health, water quality, and risks to life and safety. The 2020 Cameron Peak Fire was especially devastating. At 208,913 acres, it is Colorado’s largest wildfire in recorded history, burning across three watersheds (Poudre, Big Thompson and Laramie River). Over the last four years, the Poudre Watershed has experienced a multitude of impacts including massive debris flows and flash floods, severe water quality impacts that forced the Cities of Greeley and Fort Collins to use alternative water supplies for weeks at a time, large fish kills, and impacts to recreation/travel. This year marks four years since the fire, and we expect to continue working on post-fire recovery efforts for at least another five years.

Our goal with this funding from CWCB is to build off the Upper Poudre Resilience Plan and Poudre Pearls pilot analysis to complete a full Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) for the Upper Poudre River Watershed. The completed WRAP (expected in 2025) will ensure our partners and local communities are better prepared for the next severe fire. If we can protect high priority watershed values like water quality and supply and restore river ecosystem function and health, the watershed will also be in a better position to recover from the next fire.

The WRAP process itself is multi-objective in nature, encompassing a variety of different elements to create a basin-specific plan. Our first objective is to expand the Poudre Pearl analysis to the remaining HUC 12 watersheds and adapt and expand upon the existing Hydrology and Hydraulics (H&H) modeling effort that was completed for the Cameron Peak Fire burn area to the entire Upper Poudre Watershed. Our second objective is to complete a Susceptibility Analysis for an additional 2-3 Action Areas as identified in the revised Upper Poudre Resilience Plan. Ultimately, these phase 2 funds will ensure that we have a completed WRAP to better prepare for and respond to the next severe wildfire in the Poudre.

CPRW will be the lead project sponsor and will work on all aspects of project and grant management. CPRW will work closely with our Upper Poudre Stakeholder Committee that is open to the public but has regular representation from a range of Poudre stakeholders including the US Forest Service, Colorado State Forest Service, the local utilities, researchers at both Colorado State University and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute and local nonprofits.

Thank you to CWCB for supporting this important work around the state of Colorado. Stay tuned for updates on this project in 2025 and beyond!