watershed planning Projects

Integrated Watershed Management Plan:
BRWG has partnered with Trout Unlimited to create an Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP) for the Blue River Watershed, that will provide a roadmap for future water use, restoration projects, and other solutions to the issues that currently threaten the health of the watershed. This project is our primary focus and once it is completed the IWMP will guide the strategic direction of BRWG for the next several years. You can read more about the IWMP here. 

Summit County Outdoor Coalition:
​Blue River Watershed Group along with Friends of the Lower Blue River and Summit County Sustainability have partnered to support the formation of the Summit County Outdoor Coalition. This partnership is part of the Regional Partnership Initiatives ​with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). The goal of the coalition is to manage the impacts of growth in and support ecosystem health in a changing climate. Learn more about the coalition here.
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restoration PRojects

Swan River Restoration:
BRWG is currently working with Summit County Open Space and others to restore a section of the Swan River near Breckenridge that was heavily affected by dredge mining. The first phase of this project, Reach A, was finished in the fall 2019 and is now open to the public. Click here to read more about this ongoing project.

Swan River Fish Barrier:
Part of the full restoration of the Swan River includes a goal to build effective fish barriers to protect native Cutthroat Trout which live in the North Fork of the Swan River upstream of the restoration site. Learn more about this project and how fish barriers work here.

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Community education and Engagement Projects

State Of the River Presentations: 
The State of the River is a series of presentations that provides an opportunity for our stakeholders to learn more about water allocation, the outlook for our rivers, and how the Colorado River District and Blue River Watershed Group are working to protect the Blue River. This years SOTR features experts presenting on current water projects, water allocation and use, as well as local water issues that impact our community. 

Citizen Science:
This project provides an opportunity for local community members to get involved with help understanding the baselines water quality measurements and their fluctuations over time. These important data points provide us with the tools we need to make informed decisions about streamflow allocations, water temperature and salinity fluctuations, and how reduced flows on the Blue River due to transbasin diversions and water allocations affect aquatic life.
 
Volunteer Opportunities:
We host several opportunities for volunteers throughout the year in addition to our Citizen Science program. Noxious/non-native weed pulls, native willow plantings, helping BRWG with community events and educational presentations, and our annual River Cleanup Festival.

We can't protect the watershed alone, so community engagement is critical to achieving our mission. BRWG is available to present on the issues and challenges that affect our watershed and what steps our community can take to protect our watershed. If you have an event that you would like us to present at, get in touch at info@blueriverwatershed.org. 

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.