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<br />Most projects involved a combination <br />both upland and wetland habitat <br />improvemcnt techniques, Typically, <br />riparian projects entail the tencing of <br />streambanks to improve livestock <br />management, although one project in <br />the San Luis Valley was designed to <br />restore streambank and in,stream <br />habitats, Statewide, wetland and <br />upland projects vary greatly due to <br />biological tactors, landowner needs and <br />wants, topography, water supply and <br />many other tactors, For example, <br />projects in the San Luis Valley have <br />been emphasizing creation of nesting habitat by creating large expanses of shallowly tlooded <br />wetland that stimulates Baltic rush growth, Baltic rush is a preferred nesting substrate for many <br />waterbird species in the area, The San Luis Valley is an ancient lake bed and its topography is <br />ideal for large. cost etlective water spreading projects, Projects on the western slope of <br />Colorado tend to be deeper using existing drainages to impound irrigation water to create a mix <br />of shallow (<2 teet) and deeper habitats. Those projects in the southeast and northeast diner <br />greatly depending upon their proximity to the tlood plains of the Arkansas and South Platte rivers <br />respectively. Floodplain projects oner the opportunity to create or restore large expanses of very <br />shallow wetlands due to the tlat topography. More discussion of projects by region follows (a <br />map is attached), <br /> <br />Northeastern Colorado Projects <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />- <br />'I <br />. <br /> <br />FY 1996 Wildlife Extension Agreements <br /> <br />] <br />IJ <br />D <br /> <br />By Parlrlers for Wildlife Focus Area <br /> <br /> <br />C San LuIs Valley <br />. North Park <br />. Platte River/Front Range <br />. West Slope <br />. Arkansas/Playa Lakes <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />If <br /> <br />Figu re 2 <br /> <br />11 <br />o <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />J <br />~ <br />I <br />U <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />9 <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Therc were 18 wildlife habitat projects carried out in the northeastern portion of Colorado during <br />the period covered by this report. Two of these were wetland revegetation projects with schools <br />in the Denver metropolitan area, The other projects were either wetland restoration, native grass <br />seeding, or wetland/riparian fencing, Northeastern Colorado projects totaled 132 wetland acres. <br />364 upland acres and approximately 4 miles of riparian tencing. The wetland projects usually <br />involved the construction of small dikes with water control structures to restore hydrology to <br />South Platte River Iloodplain wetlands, <br /> <br />Because of the intense use of water li'om the South Platte tor irrigation, domestic and industrial <br />purposes, the natural hydro graph has been radically changed, Spring flooding has been reduced <br />both in trequency and magnitude as water is now stored in reservoirs fll!" use later in the year. <br />Return tlows trom irrigation and other uses result in higher llows in the summer. fall and winter <br />than occurred historically, When working with tloodplain wetlands, true restoration is not <br />possible as there is no practical way to restore natural South Platte River tlows, Therefore. most <br />