2013 Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference
Water: What is the New Normal?
October 8-10, 2013
Westin Riverfront Resort
Avon, CO

 

Thank you from Colorado Watershed Assembly, the Colorado Foundation for Water Education and the Colorado Riparian Association to those who attended the 8th Annual Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference!

This year's agenda can be viewed here. A description of some of our pre-conference and field workshops can be found here. Presentations can be found below.

Tuesday, October 8:

Plenary Session I: What is the New Normal?

• Economic changes with shifting populations and demographics - Tom Clark, Metro Denver Economic Development Corp

• Climate and hydrologic trends - Kristen Averyt, Western Water Assessment at the University of Colorado

• Changing landscape of Colorado Forests - Joseph Duda, Colorado State Forest Service

Plenary Session II: What's in our toolbox for watershed health?

• New Mechanism for Investing in Watershed Health - Heidi Huber-Stearns and Robin Reid, Colorado State University

• Protecting and Restoring Colorado's Rivers while Securing Colorado's Water Future - Meg White, The Nature Conservancy

• The Future of Rivers in the Colorado Basin - Jennifer Pitt, Environmental Defense Fund

Evening Banquet

• Keynote Speech by Auden Schendler, The Aspen Ski Company

Wednesday, October 9:

8:30am to 10:30am sessions

• Floods and Rivers in a Stationary World - Joel Sholtes, Colorado State University

• Colorado Water Plan: How do non-consumptive uses fit in? - James Eklund, Colorado Water Conservation Board

• Implementing Graywater Reuse in Colorado - Larry Roesner, Colorado State University

• Getting Beyond the All or Nothing in the Debate over the Public Trust Initiatives, recent efforts to upend our water rights systems - Jennifer Bock, High County Citizens' Alliance

• We've been hugging water since the 70's...don't you think it's time we get to second base? We need a more quality relationship with water! - Mary Dawson, Aurora Water

• The New Normal of Watershed Education - Getting Kids Hands Wet - Sarah Johnson, Roaring Fork Conservancy

• A Decade of Studying a River Watershed by Students at Cache La Poudre Middle School in LaPorte, CO - Mary Richmond, Cache La Poudre Middle School

10:30am - 12:00pm Sessions

• Current Forest Conditions, Fires, and the Watershed Approach to Forest Management- Jonathan Bruno, CUSP

• High Park Fire: Protecting Water Supplies from Post-Fire Sediment Runoff - Steve Smith, Applegate Group

• Emergency Watershed Protection after the High Park Fire - John Giordanengo, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

• Restoration of the Hayman Burn Area: A multi-modal analysis of the integration of social and ecological values and land cover change in a post-fire restoration case study - Andrea Hassler, Rocky Mountain Field Institute

• Groundwater: Don't Just Scratch the Surface - Dr. Gilbert Barth, S.S. Papadopulos and Associates

• Bridging the gap between flood safety and environmental vitality: Updating a stormawater master plan to include water quality and stream restoration - Mark Kempton, Fort Collins Utilities

• Making Room for Rivers - Katie Jagt, Walsh Environmental

• Protecting Streamflows: How CWT Can Help you Prepare to do More with Less - Edalin Koziol, Colorado Water Trust

• Encouraging Municipal Water Reuse: An Environmental Perspective - Laura Belanger, Western Resource Advocates

• Water restrictions - an educational approach to a mandate - Laurie D'Audney, Fort Collins Utilities

1:30-3:00pm Sessions

• West Harvard Gulch Rehabilitation: A Tale of a Creek, a Railroad, a Cottonwood, and Bricks - Carolyn Roan, Muller Engineering and Barbara Chongtoua, UDFCD

• Restoring to What? South Platte River Enhancements in South Platte Park, Littleton, CO - Laura Kroeger, UDFCD

• I-70 Twin Tunnels Impacts to Clear Creek - Josh Hollon, Atkins and Kevin Shanks, THK & Associates

• Denver Water's Watershed Assessment for the Upper South Platte - Sarah Dominick, Denver Water

• The Cache La Poudre River; Past, Present, and Future: A Multimedia Approach for Telling the Story of a Modern Urban River - Jennifer Shanahan, Fort Collins Natural Areas Department

• A Course Screening Methodology to Rate the Relative Risk of 6th Level Subwatersheds to the Anticipated Impacts from Climate Change - Mark Weinhold, White River National Forest

• Water communications in the era of "Friends", "Likes", and "Apps" - Frani Halperin, Halperin Creative

• Colorado College State of the Colorado Rockies Project: Students Researching, Reporting, and Engaging on the State of the Colorado River Basin (Video 1 and Video 2)- David Spiegel, Colorado College

• Communicating with Change in Mind - Mimi Mather, Root House Studios

3:30-5:00pm Sessions

• Maximizing Water Availability through Creation of Artificial Wetlands: A Win-Win-Win Scenario - Greg Kernohan, Ducks Unlimited

• The importance of beavers in stream and riparian processes: opportunities for Restoring Watershed Functions - Mark Beardsley and Jessica Doran, EcoMetrics

• Paonia River Park - A Study in Simplicity - Jeff Crane, Crane Associates and Joanna Calabrese, Western Slope Conservation Center

• Stories from a Watershed Group on Organizational and financial management, Good Samaritan Watershed Restoration, Connecting with the Watershed Community and a Strategy for moving forward - David Holm, Clear Creek Watershed Foundation

• Conservation Synergy: Bridging Water and Energy Efficiency Programs - Amelia Nuding, Western Resource Advocates

• Creating a New Normal for Connecting People to Rivers: American Rivers Blue Trails and the Eagle River Blue Trail Project - Ken Neubecker, American Rivers

• Watershed Restoration in an Urban Environment - Elise Bergsten, Fountain Creek Watershed Greenway Fund

• How the District Violated the Clean Water Act, and How You Can Avoid Doing the Same - David Bennetts, UDFCD and Mary Powell, ERO

• Stream and Wetland Mitigation and Permitting for Commercial Development: An Example from the Wasatch Front, Utah - Nathan Jean and Randy Walsh, Stantec

• Estimating Nutrient Loads in Urban runoff under Colorado's Regulation 85 - Jane Clary, Wright Water Engineers

This annual conference works to expand cooperation and collaboration throughout Colorado in natural resource conservation, protection and enhancement by informing participants about new issues and innovative projects and through invaluable networking! Join us next year to experience this great opportunity!