Statewide Water Projects

Grant Amount: $79,400 | Project Cost: $120,000

Agriculture Watershed and Stream Management Planning Outreach and Technical Assistance

Location: Statewide
Type: Agriculture

A series of engagment events for agricultural water users and non-ag water users about contempory agricultural water issues. This includes workshops, field trips, videos, publications, and media outreach.

Grant Amount: $99,000 | Project Cost: $199,000

Agriculture Watershed and Stream Management Planning Outreach and Technical Assistance

Location: Statewide
Type: Agriculture

Survey agricultural producers to determine perceptions of stream and watershed management plans. This will help determine 25 outreach activites such as meetings, workshops, and presentations throughout the state.

Grant Amount: $99,371 | Project Cost: $199,371

A System and Process for Assessing Water Use of Land Use Decisions

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Streamline assessment and communication of water use implications associated with land development plans through both modeling and analysis of metered water use data through utilities across the state

Grant Amount: $52,500 | Project Cost: $152,875

Best Practices for Water Meter Retrofit Projects Financed by State Performance Contracts in Colorado

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Develop Best Practices for the retrofit of water meters performed through the State of Colorado’s Performance Contracting Program. Doing so will increase investor confidence and accelerate market penetration of smart water meters in Colorado

Grant Amount: $7,612 | Project Cost: $143,762

Breaching the Divide: West Slope-Front Range Partnerships to Integrate Water and Land Use Planning

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Convene a diverse stakeholder group addressing impacts of diversions between communities in the basin of origin, and in the area receiving water. Emphasizes early consultations on local land use decisions that drive the need for water diversions.

Grant Amount: $398,000 | Project Cost: $896,122

Colorado Growing Water Smart

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Resources will be broadly disseminated through presentations and workshops targeting planners, local jurisdictional leaders, and water providers. First round of participating communities included a mix of Front Range and West Slope communities and represented more than 6% (325,000+ residents) of Colorado’s population.

Grant Amount: $350,000 | Project Cost: $835,374

Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) Demonstration

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Development of a mobile treatment unit demonstrating proven technologies associated with Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) via secondary treated wastewater

Grant Amount: $35,000 | Project Cost: $84,990

Guidance to Covered Entities for Land Use Planning Components of Water Efficiency Plans

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Input from a broad based advisory group and stakeholder workshops will provide feedback from local government and land use authorities around integration of land use planning and water efficiency efforts.

Grant Amount: $79,690 | Project Cost: $159,690

Integrated Water & Land Use Planning in Colorado Communities: Direct Community Assistance

Location: Front Range
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Support for Front Range communities toward implementing policies and programs that integrate water efficiency and land use planning. Includes messaging around reducing vulnerability to climate change impacts.

Grant Amount: $149,249 | Project Cost: $298,549

System and Process for Assessing Water Use of Land Use Decisions

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Streamline assessment and communication of water use implications associated with land development plans through modeling, and analysis of metered water use data within utilities throughout Colorado.

Grant Amount: $19,090 | Project Cost: $43,060

Conservation-Oriented Tap Fees: Guide & Workshop

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Development of a guide and workshop focusing on water-conservation tap fee's design methodologies allowing utility's to better integrate water conservation objectives into their tap fees.

Grant Amount: $65,500 | Project Cost: $100,000

Development of Colorado Guidelines for Direct Potable Reuse

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

This project will help Colorado communities optimize reusable water supplies, alleviating pressure on streams, the West Slope and/or agricultural sources.

Grant Amount: $35,000 | Project Cost: $45,000

Activating Colorado’s Water Plan with Student Driven Innovation

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Develop a cross-campus contest helping university departments and students see themselves (and their area of study) reflected in Colorado’s Water Plan.

Agriculture Water Collaborative

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

This project will utilize multiple proven outreach methods to engage and inform ag water right holders and non-ag water interests about contemporary ag water issues, including the direct and indirect benefits of irrigated agriculture and how agriculture and other water interests can benefit from mutual collaboration. The project will dispel confusion around ag water leasing-related issues and raise the level and depth of understanding about ATMs among the irrigated ag and non-ag water communities

Grant Amount: $47,000

Build Statewide, Data-Based Education Through Community

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Grant Amount: $24,500 | Project Cost: $49,000

Clean River Design Challenge

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Developing innovative solutions addressing trash in Denver’s urban waterways by pursuing implementation of a trash removal device.Local engineers and governmental departments will assist with prototypes with the goal of permanent installation

Grant Amount: $110,000

Deepening Water Engagement

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Enhance the Colorado Water Plan: Comprehensive Education and Outreach

Location: statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Grant Amount: $61,750

Enhancing the Colorado Water Plan through Comprehensive

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Grant Amount: $85,000 | Project Cost: $900,000

For the Love of Colorado public education initiative

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Funding an effective, research-based education initiative that Coloradans will see via various earned media platforms.

Grant Amount: $10,000 | Project Cost: $12,500

Investigation of Barriers to Policy for Low Impact Development

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Conducting an in-depth engagement of municipalities determining current Low Impact Development (LID) programs and identify barriers municipalities are facing in adopting LID policy

Grant Amount: $12,734 | Project Cost: $58,189

Outreach and Capacity Building for Ag Water Projects

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Conduct extensive outreach through regional workshops focusing on irrigation inventories and funding irrigation improvements, stream management planning, water quality, master aquifer program, and small organization outreach

Grant Amount: $55,709 | Project Cost: $111,468

Statewide Water Education Action Plan Launch

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Building a statewide Strategic Water Education Action Plan to fulfill Goal 2 of Colorado Water Plan (Creating a Data-Based Water Education Plan).

Grant Amount: $250,000 | Project Cost: $623,750

Tackling Wicked Problems in Water + Climate

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

6 step process to address "wicked" problems associated with water and climate change. The goal is to leverage expertise in the business sector to create market based approaches to tackle the wicked problems.

Grant Amount: $54,000 | Project Cost: $64,000

TAP-IN

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Support marketing, communications, and outreach for programs/events, as well as data collection measuring success/impact improving future offerings.

Grant Amount: $53,000

Understanding Water Activity Book

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Grant Amount: $30,000 | Project Cost: $66,500

Water Legacy: Documenting Knowledge for Future Generations

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Interview key Colorado water professionals (who have retired or are close to retirement) to learn about their lives and careers, capturing stories, insights, and information that may not be recorded or documented anywhere else

Grant Amount: $10,000 | Project Cost: $71,390

Young Farmers and Ranchers Water Leadership Program

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Guiding a dozen young farmers and ranchers towards leadership positions on water related efforts by receiving a series of five virtual trainings, participating in multiple in-person gatherings, and benefiting from mentorship with an existing water leaders.

Grant Amount: $33,080 | Project Cost: $41,280

Training Young Farmers as Water Leaders through Colorado Water Law & Policy Bootcamps

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Educating young farmers and ranchers on state water law and policy and empowering them to take on roles of water leadership

Understanding Water Acitvity Book

Location: Statewide
Type: Future Projects

Distributing the 'Understanding Water Activity Book' for statewide distribution helping to educate the next generation toward understanding why and how we should protect and conserve this resource.

Grant Amount: $43,000 | Project Cost: $86,500

Educating for Understanding of Critical Resource Issues

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

This project will include developing 6 video that touch on key resource topics that are pertinent to all Coloradans. These include Forest Health, Riparian Corridors, Water Quality, Disappearing Rangeland, Water Use and the Gap and Watershed Importance.

Grant Amount: $31,250 | Project Cost: $70,000

Colorado Low Head Dam - Public Safety Initiative 2020

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Build a website to share information on Colorado low head dams, plan and execute a series of Stakeholder Meetings statewide, a Stakeholder Survey will be developed, distributed across the state and the results analyzed to help the steering committee inform and prioritize future activities, develop standards for signage at low head dams and install signs at selected, prioritized low head dam sites,

Grant Amount: $21,275 | Project Cost: $65,740

Young Farmers and Ranchers Water Leadership Pilot Program

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Fellows selected through an application process would receive a series of five virtual trainings, participate in multiple in-person gatherings, and benefit from mentorship with an existing water leader. Within six months of the completion of the fellowship, participants will be expected to lead a workshop training a cohort of their peers in water conservation techniques, as well as to seek a position on a water decision-making body

Grant Amount: $75,000 | Project Cost: $280,000

Colorado’s Private Lands Conservation Plan

Location: Statewide
Type: Agriculture

This plan will unify the future vision of private lands conservation, while supporting and advising larger objectives of the Colorado Water Plan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Regional Outdoor Partnership Initiatives, and Colorado’s 30x30 vision to conserve 30 percent of lands and water by 2030.

Grant Amount: $20,000 | Project Cost: $40,000

Advancing Water Smart Development

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Publishing a report about water smart development that will provide guidance on implementing water saving practices in real estate development and land use

Grant Amount: $138,355 | Project Cost: $276,710

Advancing High Impact Water Efficiency Solutions in Colorado Communities

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Accelerate and expand adoption of high impact water use efficiency projects at the local level and increase federal financial support for efficiency efforts in Colorado.

Grant Amount: $66,850 | Project Cost: $104,500

Modeling the Effects of Conservation Practices on Salinity Discharges from Irrigated Fields

Location: Statewide
Type: Agriculture

Brink, Inc. provides compliance and conservation assistance to the agricultural industry. Within the conservation realm, we often partner with university, government and agricultural industry affiliates to address challenges and answer pressing questions that fill critical knowledge gaps which help agricultural producers improve competitiveness and avoid problems. Brink, Inc. provides a bridge by linking scientific theories with real world applications. We explore technologies and practices that clarify the extent of potential opportunities on-the-ground. Working cooperatively with other stakeholders across disciplines and professions, we achieve outcomes that maximize private and public investments and expand agricultural knowledge and opportunity. Brink, Inc. has served as a contractor to the USDA – NRCS, the Colorado State Land Board, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado State University, the Uintah Tribal Government, and many private companies – large and small.

Grant Amount: $150,192 | Project Cost: $240,120

Update to the 2010 Guidebook for Best Practices for Municipal Water Conservation in Colorado

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

This project aims to update the 2010 Guidebook of Best Practices for Municipal Water Conservation in Colorado. CWP grant funding will be coupled with Colorado WaterWise and Colorado River Water Conservation District funding to achieve four project objectives: Refresh the guidebook to represent the current state of best practices, including new resources and case studies, as well as emerging practices and technologies; Use diverse and representative stakeholder engagement to garner subject matter expertise and hear directly from water utilities about their needs; Employ systems thinking to emphasize the connections between water conservation and other utility and government services, as well as broader energy and climate connections; Innovate on the guidebook delivery to include an interactive website and case studies that are updated on a more frequent basis.

Grant Amount: $139,235 | Project Cost: $279,235

Advancing High Impact Water Efficiency Solutions in Colorado Communities

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

WaterNow seeks to renew CWCB support for our two initiatives to (1) accelerate and expand adoption of high impact water use efficiency projects at the local level; and (2) increase federal financial support for efficiency efforts in Colorado. Both initiatives are supporting primarily small-to-mid sized under-resourced communities and will continue to focus on the integration of water and land use planning.

Grant Amount: $360,466 | Project Cost: $725,932

Colorado Growing Smart

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Colorado Growing Water Smart (CGWS) builds the capacity of local jurisdictions to plan and implement strategies for the integration of land use and water. With our partners, Sonoran Institute provides research, convening, training, technical assistance, and other resources to communities that allow them to better respond to current and future water supply and demand, understand the range of land use planning tools to align growth and development with forecasted water supplies, and engage their community to build support for needed plans and policies.

Grant Amount: $146,809 | Project Cost: $405,849

Single Family Energy & Water Audits and Installs

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation and Land Use

Mile High Youth Corps’ Energy & Water (E&W) Conservation Program will employ young adults, ages 18-24, to provide water efficiency service visits to 450 low-income households over an 18-month period. Service visits will include a robust assessment of each household’s water and energy usage and the replacement of inefficient water fixtures with ultra-high-efficiency toilets, faucet aerators, and high efficiency showerheads. Leveraged funding from other E&W program partners will also allow for the installation of LED lighting and programmable thermostats to further reduce a household’s energy consumption. Outdated, inefficient materials within a home lead to higher water and energy consumption and financial drain for low-income households. Installing new, efficient devices immediately reduces consumption and monthly expenditures.

Grant Amount: $150,000 | Project Cost: $667,548

Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) Demonstration – Phase II

Location: Denver; Larimer; Jefferson; Douglas
Type: Engagement and Innovation

Colorado School of Mines (Mines) in partnership with Colorado Springs utilities and funded by CWCB, have designed, fabricated, and built a mobile laboratory to demonstrate proven and novel technologies to practice Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) using municipal wastewater, or other impaired waters. Phase 1 of that project was successful in educating over 1000 individuals from various backgrounds on that role DPR can play in future water supplies. Phase II goals include DPR education and research to further demonstrate carbon-based advanced treatment (CBAT) processes.

Grant Amount: $98,375 | Project Cost: $436,250

Ditch and Reservoir Outreach, Education & Advocacy Programming

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

The proposed water project covers four tasks. Communications, outreach, and partnership building will allow DARCA to reach members and nonmembers alike regarding policy at the state and national level, raise awareness about programs and partnerships such as the low head dam effort through DNR, build the website and social media platform to include a diverse stakeholder group and private members-only portions to communicate, building an ambassador program for collegiate aged individuals and beginning industry folks, as well as build greater connections for DARCA members to do their jobs well such as the fire and flood mapping which will allow a ditch and reservoir company to have a reference document to prepare for a fire or flood before, during, or after an event.

Grant Amount: $18,188 | Project Cost: $24,250

H2O Radio Website Redevelopment

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

H2O Radio is a nonprofit newsroom producing journalism in the public interest. The goal of the project is to redesign and redevelop H2O Radio’s website (H2ORadio.org) to: 1) make content more widely accessible; 2) expand distribution channels; 3) engage more people; 4) build organizational capacity; and 5) support our fundraising and revenue stream apparatus. The current H2O Radio website is hindering our ability to meet these goals in its current form.

Grant Amount: $87,000 | Project Cost: $186,390

Your Water, Your Life Contest

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

The “Your Water, Your Life” statewide higher education water contest, managed by the OWOW Center, will provide an opportunity for interdisciplinary engagement in water resources to initiate a new way of thinking about water. The objective will be to connect students with the Colorado Water Plan, the “Water ’22” campaign, and their local environment through the structure of a creative contest. Engaged students will deliver projects focused on the way water flows through their lives.

Grant Amount: $40,100 | Project Cost: $124,400

Enhanced public engagement and education campaign on Colorado Water, River Basins (Rio Grande Focus) and the Water Plan

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

This project will be a focused effort from TRCP and its network of partners to engage the Colorado public, with a specific focus on communities of color, to educate them about the current state of water in the state, nine basins (specific focus on Colorado River and Rio Grande River Basins) and empower them to get involved and provide feedback when the updated draft Colorado Water Plan is released. Educating and empowering Colorado’s Front Range residents to learn about and engage on water issues beyond their home basin is the primary intent of this proposal .

Grant Amount: $55,000 | Project Cost: $329,199

Advancing a Coordinated and Collaborative Approach to Water Education and Outreach via the Water Educator Network through 2025

Location: Statewide
Type: Engagement and Innovation

This grant will support, coordinate and strengthen the Water Educator Network over a 3-year project period through regular communications, trainings and collaborations, and improved vehicles for sharing resources.

Grant Amount: $1,877,400 | Project Cost: $2,587,400

Phase I of the Colorado Aerial Snowpack Measurement Study

Location: Statewide
Type: Water Storage and Supply

Building on a legacy of Airborne Snow Observatories (ASO) flights (funded by CWCB and other partners), the Colorado Airborne Snow Observatories (CASO) workgroup (a WSRF-sponsored project) has identified 2022 as crucial for expansion and study of snow remote sensing flights in Colorado to establish the foundation for a sustained statewide ASO program. The proposed work will include snow remote sensing flights using the ASO methodology, workshops to study optimal data utilization amongst all stakeholder groups, conducting ASO-informed streamflow forecasting, comparing forecasting methods, and furthering the CASO program facilitation effort. Several flights are proposed in winter/spring providing decision-support data, and several are proposed for summer to establish baseline data supporting snow surveys in 2022-2023 and beyond. Data products from this project will be freely available to all stakeholders.

Grant Amount: $664,987 | Project Cost: $2,471,288

Climate Resilient Agricultural Futures and Transformations (CRAFT)

Location: Arkansas, Gunnison, Colorado
Type: Water Storage and Supply

This project advances a systems approach to help Colorado farmland conservation organizations and their partners in agriculture protect agricultural water supplies while supporting multi-benefit projects that address supply shortages and climate change. It uses scenario planning frameworks and decision-support technologies to initiate field-level actions that generate adaptive and restorative watershed-scale impacts. The frameworks and technologies enable organizations to identify, prioritize, and launch projects that improve agricultural-economic outputs, enhance ecosystem function, and optimize water use while addressing supply gaps within the agricultural sector.

Grant Amount: $190,575 | Project Cost: $340,575

Agricultural Drought Resilience & Innovative Water Conservation

Location: Littleton
Type: Agricultural Projects

To tackle the urgency of the challenge, we need to significantly advance the scale and pace of agricultural drought resilience and strategic water conservation work. Adaptation strategies must be tailored to local conditions, needs, and opportunities. Agricultural producers and irrigation water providers are best suited to lead these efforts, given the local knowledge and level of trust required for success. This project will provide technical and financial resources directly to agricultural communities to develop and implement strategies to respond to a long-term decline in water supply reliability.

Grant Amount: $209,745 | Project Cost: $334,635

Diversifying Colorado’s Water Portfolio: The Potential for Stormwater Capture and Use to Contribute to a Water Resilient Future

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation & Land Use Planning

Urban stormwater capture and use (SCU) in Colorado is an opportunity to develop and scale untapped water supplies, for the purpose of diversifying its water portfolio. It is a key strategy to help communities adapt to more variable precipitation patterns, as is expected to occur with climate change. This innovative project will provide a volumetric and economic assessment of the potential of urban SCU in Colorado, as defined within existing water law.

Grant Amount: $125,462 | Project Cost: $215,200

Reducing Non-Functional Turfgrass in New Development Through Smart Land Use Planning

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation & Land Use Planning

Colorado Water Plan Grant funding will support Western Resource Advocates in providing direct technical assistance, resources, and education to help communities develop water wise landscaping standards and conservation-oriented system development charges to reduce non-functional turf in new developments.

Grant Amount: $184,720 | Project Cost: $769,440

Advancing High Impact Water Efficiency Solutions in Colorado Communities

Location: Statewide
Type: Conservation & Land Use Planning

WaterNow seeks to renew CWCB support for our two initiatives to (1) accelerate adoption of high impact water use efficiency projects at the local level; and (2) increase federal funding support for water efficiency efforts in Colorado.

Grant Amount: $183,438 | Project Cost: $246,833

Quantifying recreational impacts and identifying enhancement opportunities

Location: Statewide
Type: Storage & Supply

This project seeks to identify those high priority reaches, plan for a way to address those current needs, and identify a process for quantifying recreational water needs of the future statewide.

Grant Amount: $1,500,000 | Project Cost: $3,000,000

Building Statewide Capacity for Turf Removal

Type: Municipal

To create momentum for statewide turf removal, Resource Central seeks to catalyze transformative landscape change, expand outreach and implementation to the Western Slope, and pilot new, innovative water conservation solutions across Colorado communities

Grant Amount: $475,000 | Project Cost: $638,050

Scaling Up Ag Water Education and Funding Outreach

Location: Alamosa; Boulder; Clear Creek; Archuleta; Cheyenne; Chaffee; Arapahoe; Adams; Conejos; Bent; Baca

Grant Amount: $99,743 | Project Cost: $143,866

Water and Its Relationship to the Economies of the Headwaters Counties Study Update and Outreach

Location: Eagle; Gunnison; Summit; Pitkin; Routt; Grand

This Report evaluates the importance of water resources not only to the economy of the headwaters counties (Eagle, Grand, Gunnison, Pitkin, Routt, Summit), but its value to economy of the state as a whole.

Grant Amount: $9,992 | Project Cost: $13,522

Water-Focused Reader for Colorado Classrooms

Type: Education

The Colorado Foundation for Agriculture will publish and distribute a Colorado Reader focused on water as part of its preK-12 Agriculture in the Classroom programs for the 2023-2024 school year.

Grant Amount: $269,543 | Project Cost: $359,386

Polaris Land Use & Water Planning Tool, Phase II

Type: Municipal

The study develops a software called Polaris with data analysis and modeling capacities for integrated land use planning and water supply management in communities across Colorado. The tool streamlines a mechanism to quickly assess, understand, and report water use for comprehensive plans, master plans, and other planning activities within a city or utility service area.

Grant Amount: $153,697 | Project Cost: $247,631

Environmental Flows Cohort Pilot Training Program

Type: Environmental

Grant Amount: $246,382 | Project Cost: $328,509

Capacity & Tech Assistance for Watershed Groups

Type: Environmental

This project aims to enhance the number of effective watershed plans throughout Colorado and bridge the gap from planning to implementation

Grant Amount: $93,588 | Project Cost: $194,300

Riparian Restoration and Monitoring in Lower Bear Creek

Location: Denver
Type: Environmental

Groundwork Denver (GWD) requests funding to engage 32 youth and 250 community members in 10 volunteer events focused on repairing the structure and function of the riparian ecosystem along an 8-mile stretch of Lower Bear Creek used as a pedestrian trail, with the goal of restoring its natural resilience and preserving its function for both humans and the environment.

Grant Amount: $152,158 | Project Cost: $202,876

Advancing Water Wise Landscaper Certification

Type: Municipal

For three years, WRA has led an initiative to explore policy options for expanding landscape and irrigation professional training and certification in Colorado. WRA has identified that state-required licensing of landscape and irrigation professionals would have the largest impact on water conservation.

Grant Amount: $331,885 | Project Cost: $440,080

Advancing Water Efficiency Solutions in Colorado Communities-Ph 2

WaterNow seeks funding from the Colorado Water Plan (CWP) Grant to expand its current initiatives in collaboration with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). The goal is to accelerate and fund high-impact water use efficiency projects, specifically those integrating water efficiency with land use planning

Grant Amount: $490,818 | Project Cost: $654,424

Intermountain West Alternative Forages Project – Phase II

Location: Grand; Montezuma; Mesa
Type: Agricultural

Unprecedented drought impacts in recent years have demonstrated the need for new approaches to using water while keeping agriculture strong in the Upper Colorado River Basin. This project is Part 2 of a long-term project to advance knowledge of the role alternative forage crops can play in enabling the basin’s farms and ranches to thrive in a drier future.

Grant Amount: $306,000 | Project Cost: $429,196

Colorado Water Fellows Program: Water Workforce Development through Education, Training, and Internships

Location: La Plata; Denver; Larimer; Boulder

The overall goal of expanding the Water Fellows Program (Program) to five universities and creating an annual Water Fellows Education and Career Event (Event) is to enhance the capabilities of academic institutions in Colorado to attract and retain a more diverse student body in water programs, foster the development of a skilled and collaborative water workforce that reflects a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, and establish clear career pathways in water-related fields for students in universities and colleges across the state.

Grant Amount: $318,625 | Project Cost: $509,625

Statewide Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Water Efficiency Program

Location: Adams; Cheyenne; Clear Creek; Alamosa; Arapahoe; Chaffee; Boulder; Archuleta; Baca; Broomfield; Bent
Type: Municipal

This collaborative project between the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association (RMSAWWA) and multiple water providers will initiate an imperative shift to prioritize Commercial, Industrial, and Institution (CII) water efficiency by developing a formal Colorado CII program framework.

Grant Amount: $446,784 | Project Cost: $655,384

Colorado Growing Water Smart

Colorado Growing Water Smart (GWS) builds the capacity of local jurisdictions to plan and implement strategies for the integration of land use and water. With our GWS partner the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, Sonoran Institute (SI) provides research, convening, training, technical assistance, and other resources to communities that help them to better respond to current and future water supply and demand, understand the range of land use planning tools to align growth and development with forecasted water supplies and engage their community to build support for needed plans and policies.

Grant Amount: $136,948 | Project Cost: $183,028

Watershed PenPal Program

Location: Eagle; Arapahoe; Garfield; Pitkin

Watershed PenPals connects students across watershed basins by fostering relationships built on shared experiences and old-fashioned letter writing. Through a series of shared classes, slides, Google Meets, videos, activities, and a summer experience program, students in both Aurora and the Roaring Fork Valley learn about where their water comes from and why it’s important to value, conserve, and protect this life-giving resource. Students that come from different geographical areas and cultural backgrounds develop relationships by sharing information about their hobbies, interests, and personal connections to water. To date, over 500 students have participated.

Grant Amount: $150,264 | Project Cost: $200,348

Implementing Turf Limits in Landscape Codes

Type: Municipal

The proposed project will enable WRA and our partners at Brendle Group (BG) (collectively, “the project team”) to develop these needed resources and tools and to conduct extensive education and outreach to support successful SB5 implementation. This project will be highly collaborative with resource development informed by engagement with cities and counties and through the formation of a Landscape Code Technical Advisory Group.

Grant Amount: $100,000 | Project Cost: $324,000

Front Range and West Slope Tour of Mirasol

To educate the region about the pressing water issues impacting the basin and beyond, the CMU Water Center plans to continue or introduce the following educational programs: Upper Colorado River Basin Forum; Water Course Seminar; Water Workforce Needs Assessment Study; Water Equity Educator Workshop; and Environmental Science Seminar Series.

Grant Amount: $148,538 | Project Cost: $198,780

Recreational Impacts and Opportunities Ph 2

Type: Environment and Recreation

Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry depends upon healthy watersheds and rivers. The Colorado Water Plan indicates that diminished water supply and climate change could present a significant threat to the long-term viability of Colorado’s water-based outdoor recreation economy. The risks to non-consumptive uses like recreation lack detail and quantification statewide. This project will identify priority recreation locations at risk to changing or diminished recreational opportunities, to plan for a way to address impacts, and to develop a process for quantifying recreational water needs of the future statewide.

Grant Amount: $1,201,294 | Project Cost: $1,631,919

Colorado Master Irrigator Statewide Expansion Phase 2

Location: Alamosa; Baca; Bent; Boulder; Chaffee; Clear Creek; Archuleta; Adams; Arapahoe; Broomfield; Cheyenne
Type: Agriculture

Colorado faces rising water demand due to population growth and climate change. The Colorado Master Irrigator Program (COMI), which has already positively impacted over 200,000 irrigated acres across the state, is a non-profit organization that focuses on helping producers maintain profitability while integrating tools and strategies to improve energy-use efficiency and water conservation. Beginning in 2025, COMI will be expanding its efforts to offer programs in the Colorado and Gunnison Basins, specifically the Mesa and Delta Conservation districts, as well as the Arkansas and South Platte Basins in addition to programs already offered in the San Luis Valley and Republican River Basin. Courses will be offered annually for three years, tailored to each unique region with producer and expert input. Our programs will focus on advanced conservation and irrigation practices, regional hydrology, and technical advancements and will support a cohort of 25 participants per program each year, providing financial support for graduates to implement practices learned.

Grant Amount: $110,286 | Project Cost: $22,251

Colorado Mesa University Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center Outreach, Engagement, and Educational Programming

To educate the region about the pressing water issues impacting the basin and beyond, the CMU Water Center plans to continue or introduce the following educational programs: Upper Colorado River Basin Forum; Water Course Seminar; Water Workforce Needs Assessment Study; Water Equity Educator Workshop; and Environmental Science Seminar Series.

Grant Amount: $999,370 | Project Cost: $3,904,488

River Conservation Corps

Location: Adams; Alamosa; Arapahoe; Clear Creek; Custer; Cheyenne; Boulder; Delta; Broomfield; Chaffee; Denver
Type: Environment and Recreation

The River Conservation Corps (RCC) is a new AmeriCorps program designed to provide technically trained Members to support the capacities of NGOs and agencies involved in Thriving Watersheds actions. Developed with funding from a Serve Colorado Planning Grant, this program has been shaped by the frequently requested apacity needs in our discussions with over 50 partners. Placed Members will enhance our partners' capacity by: I) providing data collection and assessment expertise; ii) assisting with public outreach, communication, and education; and iii) contributing labor to support river restoration implementation.

Legend
Storage & Supply
Storage & Supply
Environment & Recreation
Environment & Recreation
Engagement & Innovation
Engagement & Innovation
Conservation & Land Use
Conservation & Land Use
Agriculture
Agriculture
Future Projects
Future Projects