Best Practices in Integrated Water Management Planning
Nicole Seltzer1
1River Network; Oak Creek, CO, USA; nseltzer@rivernetwork.org
Colorado water law was adopted into the state’s constitution in 1876 and it encouraged diversion of water for beneficial use. This has led to destructive reductions in peak and base flows in many stream reaches. Fast forward to today, when river-related recreation on Colorado’s western slope accounts for $6.4billion in annual direct expenditures, and tourism, including fishing and rafting, makes up between 35% and 59% of total jobs. Large swaths of the state have an economic interest in maintaining healthy rivers.
The adoption of Colorado’s Water Plan in 2016 acknowledges this challenge and sets forth a series of actions to balance water users’ needs with the environment. Specific to protecting and enhancing stream flows, the plan calls for 80 percent of locally prioritized rivers to be covered by Stream Management Plans by 2030 and provides more than $4million per year to achieve them. To make effective use of those funds, River Network is working to improve the quality and quantity of Stream and Integrated Water Management Plans (IWMP) in Colorado.
River Network has partnered with the Cross-Watershed Network to accomplish this through one-on-one assistance to scope IWMPs, surveys, and interviews to collect best practices and peer learning opportunities like field trips and workshops. Initial results show that coalitions are struggling with early stakeholder buy-in, getting agricultural water users to participate, and making a case for support for yet another planning effort. We’ll discuss actions that have been successful to overcome these challenges to river health planning.