FLOOD10351

• County: Statewide
• Community: Statewide
• Title: Statewide River Rehabilitation & Flood Plain Management Needs Inventory
• Date: 12/1/1998
• Prepared For: State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources
• Prepared By: McLaughlin Water Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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To meet this need for increased stewardship of Colorado's stream corridors, the Colorado State
Legislature in 1997 directed the CWCB to:

...conduct a statewide inventory of river channel restoration and floodplain management needs.
The findings of the needs assessment will be the basis for a proposal to determine the economic
feasibility of establishing a statewide floodplain management and river channel rehabilitation
program funded separately from the Colorado Water Conservation Board construction fund. The
proposed program would represent a comprehensive approach and source of funds for local
governments to better manage mitigation measures, streambanks and channel erosion, loss of
channel conveyance capacity, and loss of wildlife habitat areas.

In order to carry out this Legislative directive, the following steps were taken:

· A steering committee was organized to provide an overview of the project; bring an expanded level
of expertise and perspective; provide direction and comment; endorse the study findings; and
provide recommendations to the CWCB. Table 1 lists steering committee members.

· In order to complete the statewide inventory of flOOdplain management and river rehabilitation
needs, a detailed questionnaire was developed and sent to 321 communities and counties and 110
environmental and water related organizations.

· Extensive follow-up by telephone with the questionnaire recipients was done in order to facilitate a
good return rate of questionnaires and to clarify respondents' answers.

· Information and data from respondents' questionnaires was then entered into a database and
analyzed.

· Based on these data and information, stream corridors program objectives and recommendations
were developed in response to the Legislature's directives in Senate Bill 97-008.

· The Value of Stream Corridors program focuses on four major categories of assistance to
Colorado communities: planning assistance, funding implementation, publiC information/technical
assistance, and necessary policy and criteria.

The development of the Value of Stream Corridors program (See Figure 1-1) and the details of the
recommended program are described in the fOllowing report.

Section 1 - 2