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Wildfire Ready Watersheds |
Wildfire Ready Watersheds: preparing for wildfire/flood events
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Project Updates
October 2025: Basin-specific workshops were conducted across the county, which served as an opportunity to both educate and solicit input from community members.
September 2025: JW Associates completes the first of several Technical Memoranda describing post-wildfire risks specific to Summit County. These memos are a result of the detailed wildfire and watershed modeling conducted by JW and subcontractors. Below, please find the technical memos for Debris Flow and Watershed Hazard Assessment.
Summer 2025: Lead contractor JW Associates continues to meet with asset managers and add their values-at-risk to the GIS inventory, to be used in the susceptibility analysis. This often involves field visits with asset managers to review physical infrastructure and begin identifying proactive mitigation projects.
Summer 2025: Lead contractor JW Associates continues to meet with asset managers and add their values-at-risk to the GIS inventory, to be used in the susceptibility analysis. This often involves field visits with asset managers to review physical infrastructure and begin identifying proactive mitigation projects.
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| blue_river_watershed_hazard_assessment_20250827.pdf |
Project Background
In order to coordinate and ensure the effectiveness of wildfire preparedness efforts around the state, the Colorado Water Conservation Board created the Wildfire Ready Watersheds Program to implement Senate Bill 21-240. This bill provided grant funding for communities joining the Wildfire Ready Watersheds program.
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The Wildfire Ready Watersheds program in Colorado is a proactive initiative aimed at protecting vital watersheds from the increasing threat of wildfires. Through collaboration between local communities, government agencies, and stakeholders, the program focuses on implementing strategic measures to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and mitigate their impacts on communities, water quality, and riparian habitats. This includes conducting assessments, implementing forest management practices, and establishing partnerships to enhance wildfire preparedness and response efforts.
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The creation of a Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) is the first phase of action through the WRW program. The WRAP will examine post-wildfire hydrologic hazards (e.g., flash flooding, erosion, debris flow) posed to key community values like water supply infrastructure, bridges and culverts, and sensitive ecosystems.
By prioritizing the protection of key watersheds such as the Blue River watershed, the program seeks to safeguard critical water sources that support ecosystems, communities, and industries across Colorado. Through a combination of wildfire prevention, land management, and community engagement, the Wildfire Ready Watersheds program aims to build resilience in the face of escalating wildfire risks, ensuring the long-term sustainability of water resources and promoting the well-being of both people and the environment.
Updated fire models, such as the above, are the first step in conducting the Watershed Hazard Analysis
Once the WRAP is complete, the next step is to identify mitigation measures that can be implemented in advance of a wildfire to reduce risk exposure as well as providing a clear path forward to access funding for future projects that fall within the WRAP objectives. State funding for projects that fall within the WRAP will be prioritized for those organizations working through the Wildfire Ready Watersheds program.
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Throughout the state from Glenwood Canyon and the Poudre River valley, we have seen the devastating effects of post-fire flooding. Imagine the effects of a large fire followed by flood events in Ten Mile Canyon. Planning mitigation efforts ahead of these fires is the best way to reduce the vulnerability of our community, our infrastructure, and to ensure funding for future projects remains on the table and available for Summit County to mitigate the effects of future wildfires. |
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After a wildfire burns, erosion of soil and runoff of rainfall can increase by several orders of magnitude over pre-fire conditions. Resulting floods and runoff impact water quality, reservoir capacity, water delivery and transportation infrastructure such as bridges, degrade aquatic habitat, and threaten life and property.
To combat the impacts of post-wildfire hazards, the Wildfire-Ready Watersheds program seeks to identify susceptible parts of our state’s infrastructure, guide planning and response efforts, and inform scientists, stakeholders, and decision makers through several efforts:
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Post Fire Flood Damage in Glenwood Canyon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie Weeman ([email protected])
Wildfire Ready Watersheds Program Innovates Solutions to
Post-Fire Flood Before the Flames Begin
February 13, 2024 (Denver, CO) - In recent years, Colorado has experienced the most devastating fires in the state’s history—resulting not only in damages from the flames themselves, but also in post-fire flooding and watershed impacts that ravaged communities and ecosystems. The Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Wildfire Ready Watersheds program seeks to innovate better solutions to these impacts to equip our state with the ability to mitigate for post-wildfire hazards before fires burn. The program assesses risks and hazards, and provides a template action plan for water users, local government, nonprofits, conservation districts, and emergency management across the state.
“When it comes to mitigation, we want to be ahead of the fires, not just in reaction mode,” said Chris Sturm, CWCB Watershed Program Director. “Our goal is to get experts together to collaborate on solutions to post-wildfire floods long before they happen, because that’s the best time to have those discussions.”
Guided by a $30 million Senate Bill signed by Governor Polis in 2021, the Wildfire-Ready Watersheds program assesses the susceptibility of Colorado’s water resources, communities, and critical infrastructure to post-wildfire impacts and advances a framework for communities to plan and implement mitigation strategies to minimize these impacts—before wildfires occur.
“Impacts from wildfires don’t stop when the flames do. As a wildland firefighter, I’ve seen firsthand how devastating the impacts from wildfires can be on water supplies, infrastructure, communities, and our local habitats and beyond,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources. “This program does something important: it helps predict where the worst post-wildfire impacts might be felt, and thus can inform response efforts where they are needed most.”
“The Wildfire Ready Watersheds program fills a critical need: in order to better equip ourselves to handle hazards, we need to prepare for them early. We can’t plan for a disaster after the disaster happens,” said Lauren Ris, CWCB Director. “This program innovates these solutions, to inform and develop mitigation strategies to restore and rehabilitate our watersheds for the years to come.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie Weeman ([email protected])
Wildfire Ready Watersheds Program Innovates Solutions to
Post-Fire Flood Before the Flames Begin
February 13, 2024 (Denver, CO) - In recent years, Colorado has experienced the most devastating fires in the state’s history—resulting not only in damages from the flames themselves, but also in post-fire flooding and watershed impacts that ravaged communities and ecosystems. The Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Wildfire Ready Watersheds program seeks to innovate better solutions to these impacts to equip our state with the ability to mitigate for post-wildfire hazards before fires burn. The program assesses risks and hazards, and provides a template action plan for water users, local government, nonprofits, conservation districts, and emergency management across the state.
“When it comes to mitigation, we want to be ahead of the fires, not just in reaction mode,” said Chris Sturm, CWCB Watershed Program Director. “Our goal is to get experts together to collaborate on solutions to post-wildfire floods long before they happen, because that’s the best time to have those discussions.”
Guided by a $30 million Senate Bill signed by Governor Polis in 2021, the Wildfire-Ready Watersheds program assesses the susceptibility of Colorado’s water resources, communities, and critical infrastructure to post-wildfire impacts and advances a framework for communities to plan and implement mitigation strategies to minimize these impacts—before wildfires occur.
“Impacts from wildfires don’t stop when the flames do. As a wildland firefighter, I’ve seen firsthand how devastating the impacts from wildfires can be on water supplies, infrastructure, communities, and our local habitats and beyond,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, Department of Natural Resources. “This program does something important: it helps predict where the worst post-wildfire impacts might be felt, and thus can inform response efforts where they are needed most.”
“The Wildfire Ready Watersheds program fills a critical need: in order to better equip ourselves to handle hazards, we need to prepare for them early. We can’t plan for a disaster after the disaster happens,” said Lauren Ris, CWCB Director. “This program innovates these solutions, to inform and develop mitigation strategies to restore and rehabilitate our watersheds for the years to come.”
You can view a list of all completed BRWG projects including work on Ten Mile Creek and the Snake River here.
Header photo courtesy of Bill Linfield.
