FLOOD10357

• Document ID: 123
• County: Rio Grande
• Stream Name: Alamosa River
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Sub-Basin: Alamosa - Trinchera
• Water Division: 3
• Title: Alamosa River Watershed Project Literature and Watershed Assesment, Final EPA Report
• Date: 9/30/2003
• Prepared For: Valle del Sol Community Center
• Prepared By: US Environmental Protection Agency
• Watershed Pro - Doc Type: Project Report

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The Alamosa River Foundation needs to establish and document their watershed vision
and goals before the development of the watershed restoration plan. It is assumed that
many of the goals for the Foundation are the same as those created for the Alamosa
River Watershed Restoration Plan; however, these goals may not reflect the current
community vision or are not comprehensive or broad enough to address other local
needs. It is not clear if an entire watershed vision exists.

The Alamosa River Watershed does not have a full time Watershed Coordinator. It is
highly recommended that the Foundation seek funding from the EPA or CDPHE to fund
such a position. Watershed restoration activities need to be overseen or managed by a
full time coordinator who will report to the Foundation.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the NRD Trustees does not formally
recognize local groups, such as the Alamosa River Foundation Board, in the decision
making process. The Foundation needs to maintain a close working relationship with
the Trustees to ensure their voice is heard on watershed projects that affect their river.
The Foundation needs to negotiate with the NRD Trustees in order to have an active
presence and decision making input in the NRD process. It is especially important for
the Foundation to have the ability to provide the Trustees input to consultant selection,
proposal review, and evaluation, project management activities and project
effectiveness.

The hydrology needs to be better defined since stream flow gages are not present in the
lower portion of the watershed; interaction between the river and the aquifer needs to be
defined. Floodplain characterization should be performed for the entire portions of the
watershed. Better water quality characterization studies need to be performed in the
lower portion of the watershed. Riparian habitat studies have been performed by NRCS
and are a good first start in defining these sensitive areas but need to be performed for
most of the watershed. These entire watershed attributes needs to be documented and
placed in GIS database system for watershed management purposes.

Finally, it is important that the future Watershed Restoration Plan reflect the overall
vision and needs of the local community. A strong and interactive public involvement
plan should be part of this restoration approach. Local citizen working groups, organized
by a Watershed Coordinator, should be developed as part of the restoration plan. The
public needs to be part of the decision making process by providing constructive
feedback to proposed projects and alternative restoration designs. Selected consultants
need to be interactive with the public, provide easy to follow maps, and diagrams during
meetings and develop newsletters on project developments.

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