PUB00015

• Year: 1998
• Title: Stewardship of Colorado Stream Corridors
• CWCB Section: Watershed & Flood Protection
• Author: CWCB
• Description: Statewide River rehabilitation and floodplaim needs inventory
• Publications - Doc Type: Tech Report

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
FOR THE
STATEWIDE RIVER REHABIUTA TION AND FLOODPLAIN NEEDS
INVENTORY

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) inventory addresses issues regarding the preservation of
our nice rivers; destroyed habitat; lost land; a need for money; multi-objective approaches; and teamwork.
These are the focus of the CWCB's recent survey conducted in an effort to provide better guidance in the
management of Colorado's rivers and floodplains. The Board initiated a Needs Survey to inventory the
needs that Colorado landowners and communities see in dealing with stream corridors, floodplains, and
watersheds and to determine the successes they are experiencing. The importance of determining these
needs cannot be underestimated since it is tied so directly to the better management of the State's stream
corridors. The attributes ofliving and working in Colorado, which include those stream corridors, continue
to attract new people whose presence in turn affects the state's watersheds and their components: the
floodplains and stream corridors. '

The Board's contractor, McLaughlin Water Engineers, Ltd. (MWE), was contracted by the CWCB to
assist with the survey of the State's 321 communities (63 counties and 268 cities and towns), and of 110
flood and water related organizations having an interest in the State's stream corridors. The response rate
to the statewide assessment survey has been very high, with 141 survey questionnaires returned. MWE
also assisted the CWCB with the interpretation of the survey results and the development of
recommendations for responding to the needs identified.

The completed questionnaires provided a good overview of floodplain issues, planning and implementation
needs, and existing enviromnental and institutional concerns in Colorado. In addition, the needs survey has
provided direct communication from floodplain administrators, land use coordinators, government entities,
landowners, and the water and enviromnental communities who deal directly with water resources and
flood-related issues.

The survey yielded findings which provide an overview of statewide needs for the Board staff and the
Project Steering Committee. (See Table ES 1 for the Committee Membership list.) The survey findings
offer a basis for understanding needs and fonnulating recommendations for meeting those needs. The
statewide needs for floodplain and stream corridor management have &...~compiled by the CWCB's
contractor. At the January 14, 1998 Committee meeting, the CWCBAaD.d the ~mmittee agreed on the
following categories of needs: planning assistance, funding for project and planning implementation,
public informationltechnital assistante, and policy and criteria guidelines. The committee selected a
project title of "The Stewardship of Colorado Stream Corridors".

Planning Assistance. Many of the State's watersheds have an absence of an overall plan for addressing
the rehabilitation or restoration of the channels and floodplains that have been eroded or flood ravaged.
With the implementation of short-term, site specific projects, longer-tenn problems are created which might
have been avoided, or at least minimized, if the initial activities had been undertaken with a broader
perspective. In addition to taking a watershed approach, these plans need to consider the full range of
interests in the watershed through a multi-objective approach. Funding needs to be provided for multi-
objective watershed master plan activities and local floodplain mapping and mitigation planning. Planning
assistance is needed for technical evaluations and development of stream corridor management plans.