Denver, Colorado, April 20, 2020 – Colorado Watershed Assembly (CWA) announces the Costilla County Conservancy District as one of eight Colorado organizations to receive a Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund (CHRF) grant for the 2019 grant cycle. Colorado Watershed Assembly Executive Director Casey Davenhill expressed, “Congratulations to the Costilla County Conservancy District for bringing together many diverse interests to begin a community-based Watershed Assessment. This project demonstrates the values promoted by the Healthy Rivers Fund: to work collaboratively with diverse interests in communities throughout Colorado, so we can all share the benefits of healthy streams, landscapes and people. This project leverages over $100,000 for the benefit of watershed health in the Rio Culebra basin. It is the beginning of a larger community effort to protect families, forests, irrigation structures, and livestock. Way to go, CCCD!”
Costilla County Conservancy Districtwill receive $20,000 from the Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund for their Upper Culebra Watershed Assessment (UCWA). The Rio Culebra Watershed is made up of stream systems and their connected riparian areas that crisscross the western side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Culebra Peak, by its very existence, creates a microclimate that supports diverse plant communities and wooded areas, perfect for settlement of the area’s farms and ranches. There are many environmental challenges facing the Upper Culebra watershed, including: extended drought, forest fire potential, extensive beetle kill, water quality impairments, endangered species, and degraded habitat. While stakeholders recognize the vital need to implement projects to address these concerns, the current condition of the Upper Culebra watershed is largely undocumented. This assessment will characterize riparian habitat, geomorphology, geology, adjacent uplands, water infrastructure, aquatic habitat, flow regimes, grazing, forest health, and water quality. Stakeholders can use the resulting characterization to prioritize, secure funding for, and implement collaborative projects that improve the health of the Upper Culebra watershed.
The Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund grant program awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. These funds support on-the-ground projects that contribute to cleaner water, healthier wildlife habitat, improved recreation and vibrant local economies throughout the State of Colorado.
The program was established jointly by the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, in cooperation with the Colorado Watershed Assembly. The Colorado Water Conservation Board is the state executive branch agency responsible for state water policy and planning. The Colorado Water Quality Control Commission is the administrative agency responsible for developing specific state water quality policies in a manner that implements the broader policies set forth by the General Assembly in the Colorado Water Quality Control Act. The Colorado Watershed Assembly is a 501(c)(3) Colorado organization that supports collaborative efforts to protect and improve land, water, and other natural resources by providing the network to connect a diversity of interests with Colorado’s watershed groups and
Other decision makers. To learn more about the Colorado Watershed Assembly, visit coloradowater.org.
