BOARD00406

• Board Meeting Date: 7/23/2002
• Description: Flood Section - Wild Fires Updates - Watershed Restoration
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
.WWW..cwcb.state.cQ.us

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

FROM:

Larry Lang, Chief, Flood Protection Section
Brian Hyde, Flood Protection

Rod Kuharich
CWeB Director

DATE:

July 12, 2002

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 13b. - Wildfires Update - Watershed Restoration
CWCB Meeting, July 23-24, 2002

Introduction
As of July 12, 2002, the Colorado State Forest Service listed 30 fires in Colorado consuming 1000
acres or more, including both fires that have been contained and fires that are still active. Of these
fires, 16 have been determined to be of federal interest. One of the consequences of all of these fires
is that numerous watersheds throughout the state have been affected by the fires. As was learned in
1996 with the Buffalo Creek fire in Jefferson County, followed 2 months later by the Buffalo Creek
flood, watershed restoration in Colorado is challenging. That is due to Colorado's geographic and
climatic conditions, due to the variety of watershed concerns simultaneously competing for attention,
and due to the significant cost and technical complexity of restoration. The loss of life and damage
to property at Buffalo Creek and downstream provided the lesson that watershed restoration is
essential to maximize public safety and to ensure the short-term and long-term health and usability
of the affected watersheds.

SUmIDarv of Current Restoration Activities
To date, the primary watershed restoration activity for each of the fires has been the preparation of
individual fire reports by the federal Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams. For
selected fires a BAER team has been established, including staff from a variety of agencies and a
variety of disciplines. The BAER reports focus on the most irnmediate scientific issues, particularly
erosion control and revegetation. Currently the CWCB has only received a BAER report for the
Hayman fire (Douglas, Jefferson, Park and Teller Counties). Other BAER reports are in progress.

In a letter sent to several federal agencies (see attached letter to Mr. Rick Cables, Regional Forester
for U.S. Forest Service Region 2), dated June 21, 2002, Department of Natural Resources Director,
Greg Walcher, stated, "Governor Owens has asked the Department of Natural Resources to
coordinate interagency efforts on protecting watersheds and water supplies from the impacts of the
devastating wildfires now burning in the State." Mr. Walcher has appointed Kent Holsinger to direct
DNR participation in watershed restoration activities.
Flood Protection. Water Supply PlaMing and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning