There’s an old saying in the West: “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting”. Despite that, local groups are working together to create a new approach to water management based on research, collaboration, mutual support and education. After studying the conditions in the Roaring Fork Watershed over the last 2+ years, a series of public meetings will get underway next week aimed at developing recommendations and actions which will protect local water resources into the future. The public is invited to attend and help shape that action plan. A series of five public meetings focused on different sections of the Roaring Fork Watershed are planned for the next two months as Phase II of the Roaring Fork Watershed Plan enters it most interactive phase. The first of those meetings will be held at the Eagle County Community Building in El Jebel at from 6:30 – 9:00 PM on Thursday, August 20.
“We are excited to be moving forward with the Watershed Plan,” said Mark Fuller, Director of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, the sponsor of the Plan. “These meetings will involve the public in a meaningful way in discussions about the future of local water resources. It is important that people voice their concerns, priorities and ideas about how we can best preserve the quality and quantity of local waters. We look forward to sharing the findings of Phase I, the State of the Watershed Report, with the public and hearing from them about how we can work together to assure the future of our water.”
The meetings on Phase II of the Watershed Plan will be held at the Eagle County Community Building in El Jebel on August 20th; in Redstone at the Church at Redstone on September 10th; in Woody Creek at the Community School on September 24th; in Glenwood Springs at the Community Center on October 1st; and in Aspen at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on October 15th. Each meeting will concentrate on the local elements of the watershed where the meeting is being held. So, for instance, the El Jebel meeting will focus on the Fryingpan River and that part of the Roaring Fork between approximately Wingo Junction and Carbondale, including East and West Sopris Creeks. “We welcome all comments on all parts of the watershed,” said Fuller, “but we hope to make it more relevant by spreading the public meetings around the various sub-watersheds in the valley. Although every part of the watershed affects every other part, we know that the concerns of a fly fisherman in Aspen might be different than those of a rancher in Carbondale or a riverside homeowner in Glenwood Springs.”
The meetings will be facilitated by Bob Schultz, a public consultant from El Jebel. Staff of the Roaring Fork Conservancy, the Plan’s lead consultant, will present a summary of the Phase I findings for the relevant part of the watershed and attendees will work in groups to address the issues identified by Phase I. The ideas generated from the meetings will be reviewed and analyzed by local experts who will prioritize them according to feasibility and effectiveness before including them in the final Plan. Recommendations and implementation strategies will eventually be presented to both local and regional governments and water managers as part of the completed Plan.
The Watershed Plan is being funded by contributions from local governments and agencies and grants from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The budget for Phase II of the Plan is $98,000 and is being administered by the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, a local consortium of County and municipal governments that has worked on water-related issues in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1981. The Watershed Plan grew out of an issues committee formed by the Roaring Fork Watershed Collaborative’s Water Committee, an informal group of local planners, agency and government representatives and private citizens which meets periodically to assess local resource and planning issues. Phase I of the Plan was begun in 2006 and completed in December of 2008. Phase II of the Plan is currently underway and is expected to be completed in late 2010. For more information visit www.roaringfork.org/watershedplan.
“We are excited to be moving forward with the Watershed Plan,” said Mark Fuller, Director of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, the sponsor of the Plan. “These meetings will involve the public in a meaningful way in discussions about the future of local water resources. It is important that people voice their concerns, priorities and ideas about how we can best preserve the quality and quantity of local waters. We look forward to sharing the findings of Phase I, the State of the Watershed Report, with the public and hearing from them about how we can work together to assure the future of our water.”
The meetings on Phase II of the Watershed Plan will be held at the Eagle County Community Building in El Jebel on August 20th; in Redstone at the Church at Redstone on September 10th; in Woody Creek at the Community School on September 24th; in Glenwood Springs at the Community Center on October 1st; and in Aspen at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies on October 15th. Each meeting will concentrate on the local elements of the watershed where the meeting is being held. So, for instance, the El Jebel meeting will focus on the Fryingpan River and that part of the Roaring Fork between approximately Wingo Junction and Carbondale, including East and West Sopris Creeks. “We welcome all comments on all parts of the watershed,” said Fuller, “but we hope to make it more relevant by spreading the public meetings around the various sub-watersheds in the valley. Although every part of the watershed affects every other part, we know that the concerns of a fly fisherman in Aspen might be different than those of a rancher in Carbondale or a riverside homeowner in Glenwood Springs.”
The meetings will be facilitated by Bob Schultz, a public consultant from El Jebel. Staff of the Roaring Fork Conservancy, the Plan’s lead consultant, will present a summary of the Phase I findings for the relevant part of the watershed and attendees will work in groups to address the issues identified by Phase I. The ideas generated from the meetings will be reviewed and analyzed by local experts who will prioritize them according to feasibility and effectiveness before including them in the final Plan. Recommendations and implementation strategies will eventually be presented to both local and regional governments and water managers as part of the completed Plan.
The Watershed Plan is being funded by contributions from local governments and agencies and grants from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The budget for Phase II of the Plan is $98,000 and is being administered by the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, a local consortium of County and municipal governments that has worked on water-related issues in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1981. The Watershed Plan grew out of an issues committee formed by the Roaring Fork Watershed Collaborative’s Water Committee, an informal group of local planners, agency and government representatives and private citizens which meets periodically to assess local resource and planning issues. Phase I of the Plan was begun in 2006 and completed in December of 2008. Phase II of the Plan is currently underway and is expected to be completed in late 2010. For more information visit www.roaringfork.org/watershedplan.
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