BOARD01932

• Board Meeting Date: 5/22/2000
• Description: Flood Section - Rio Grande Basin - Alamosa River Watershed Project
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

· The Nature Conservancy,
· Riverkeepers, and
· the Summitville-TAG Commimee.

The $300,000 from the CWCB will fund a portion ofthe entire river restoration project. The
entire project, addressing an 18-mile reach from Terrace Reservoir downstream to the crossing of
Highway 285 near La Jara, has been estimated to cost $931,000. The CWCB-funded sub-
projects would help address problems on a 4-mile sub-reach in the vicinity of Capulin. These
sub-projects would include construction of rock structures in the river, charmel reshaping,
prornotion ofre-growth of woody vegetation along the river, and encouragement oflandowners
to implement grazing Best Management Practices (BMP's).

The Water Conservancy District will make a slide presentation to the Board on Monday
afternoon, May 22, 2000, to explain the river's problems, the basic river improvement design
described in the Conceptual Design for the Alamosa River, and the specifics of the sub-projects
to be funded by the CWCB grant. On Tuesday morning, May 23, the Board will take a field trip
that will include a tour of the project reach of the Alamosa River. At the three scheduled stops
on the field trip, landowners and local officials will provide the Board members with an
opportunity to learn about specific problems and pilot river restoration projects that have already
been implemented.

Introduction

In the memorandum prepared for the January 2000 Board meeting, staff recommended that
funding be contingent upon CWCB staff approval of the final Scope of Work and a staffreview
ofthe specific project design. To that end, staff has already met twice with the project applicants
in La Jara to discuss the preparation of the Scope of Work. The second meeting in La Jara was
held on May 9, 2000. In cooperation with various private and public parties, project sponsors
have already accomplished a considerable amount of work. That work will help a great deal in
the completion of the Scope of Work. CWCB staff is optimistic about the prospects for
completing the Scope of Work during the next 3 - 4 months. Once the Scope of Work has been
finalized and approved by the staff, the contract between the CWCB and the Water Conservancy
District will be implemented. Then the Water Conservancy District will contract with a river
construction company to design and construct the improvements. The first work will be the
preparation of a final design and accompanying construction specifications. At that point the
actual river work can begin.

Proiect Reoresents A First for the CWCB

Board members should be aware that the Alamosa River Watershed Project represents the first
time that the CWCB has funded river restoration work for an entire river reach. Dave Rosgen,
the author of the Conceptual Design for the Alamosa River, has completed design and
construction of numerous river restoration projects, both within Colorado and elsewhere. Many

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