Laserfiche WebLink
• II.INTRODl1CTION <br />The James ~~reek Restoration Project focuses on non-point sedimentation and resulting turbidity <br />• issues in Jammes Creek that affect the drinking water treatment capabilities for the town of <br />Jamestown. This project engages the community, stakeholders, and partners in the reclamation <br />of James Creek's riparian corridor three miles upstream of the town of Jamestown's water <br />treatment plant. The Restoration Project is a multi-year project with this report covering work <br />completed during September 2003 to September 2004 and funded by the Colorado Watershed <br />Protection Fund grant. <br />• Water Quality Problem <br />James Creek supplies drinking water to the 300 residents of the town of Jamestown. The Left <br />Hand Water District diverts water from the drainage about five miles below the confluence of <br />. James and I' efthand Creeks in order to provide drinking water to a population of 14,000 further <br />downstream. Three miles upstream from the town of Jamestown's water treatment plant, James <br />Creek is paralleled by an undeveloped county road (CR 102 J) that has been closed to vehicle <br />• traffic since April 2000. The close proximity of the road to the creek and the years of Off-Highway <br />• Vehicle (OHV) use have compacted dirt roads, eroded stream banks, and damaged vegetation <br />on slopes on the north side of James Creek. Damage to this riparian corridor has decreased the <br />forest's ability to filter sediments from run-off before it enters the creek, thus resulting in elevated <br />• levels of turbidity in the creek especially during periods of high discharge. <br />The town of Jamestown has been unable to meet the Safe Drinking Water Acts' standards for <br />• turbidity, de:spite the construction of a new filtration plant in 1991. The federal turbidity standard of <br />1.0 nepheloimetric turbidity unit (NTU) was exceeded 465 days between 1992-2000. In June 1997 <br />the Town received a variance of 2.5 NTU and in May 1999 a variance of 5.0 NTU (the highest in <br />• the State of Colorado) from the Colorado Department of Public Health and 0=nvironment. <br />Project Histc~ <br />In the fall of 1998 the James Creek Watershed initiative formed a partnership with the University <br />• of Colorado to study the problem of turbidity in James Creek. A multidisciplinary Turbidity Study <br />Advisory Team was formed and helped to identify 13 sources of sediment loading into James <br />Creek along the County Road 102J riparian corridor. In 2002, the James Creek Restoration <br />• Project moved forward with the formation of a Restoration Team. This Team reviewed the <br />previous sources identified and added 4 new source sites which expanded the project area to <br />~ include the drainage along the County Road 100 bridge crossing James Creek. <br />• During 2002, information gained from the 1998-2001 Turbidity Study was compiled into a Field <br />Source Analysis Report. The purpose of the report was to identify and categorize the types of <br />sediment sources into James Creek and to gain an impression of their relative contributions along <br />the impaired stream corridor. Field assessments were completed at the seventeen source sites. <br />The seventeen sites were then grouped into 6 Project Reaches based on the planned locations of <br />~ future restoration work (Reaches and Project Sites Map). This report provides the basis for the <br />development of the restoration plan and is available to the public in CD format. <br />Accomplishments: 1998-2002 <br />o Seventeen sources of sediment loading into James Creek were identified, <br />• mapped, and a field analysis was completed for each site. <br />o Field Source Analysis Report was completed and is available in CD format. <br />o Restoration Team (15 members) was formed and assisted with developing a <br />• project vision, restoration goats, objectives, and draft Restoration Plan. <br />• 3 <br />