Roaring Fork Conservancy

It's amazing - 26 years of cleaning up the #rivers in the Roaring Fork Watershed! We couldn't do it without the thousands of volunteers who have participated in the last 26 years. If you're in the Roaring Fork Valley during #earthweek, why not recruit some friends and family members to help clean up a section of the Fryingpan, Roaring Fork or Crystal rivers? #Watersheds need spring cleaning, too! More information about the 26th annual Fryingpan & Beyond River Cleanup, including a link to register, can be found at https://lnkd.in/g-Hmvgwf. #explore #value #protect #rivercleanup

This is so inspiring! Daphne & Robert's son, John, and his wife attended our Twin Lakes Tunnel & Diversion Tour several years ago. During the program, John mentioned to our staff that he had boxes and files of his mom and dad's work from when they worked on the Fryingpan Arkansas Project - and many other projects. We were so excited that he wanted to share the files with us and we couldn't wait to see them! Ultimately, those files were donated to Colorado State University's Water Resources Archives and that's how the Bureau of Reclamation was able to share this beautiful post. We often don't think about the many people that made incredible sacrifices throughout their careers to create the engineering of the water infrastructure we have today. Having this glimpse into the past is invaluable!

We're #hiring a Summer Event Support #intern to assist with our summer #fundraising events! If you are energetic and organized, we want to hear from you. Read the job description at https://lnkd.in/g2PeZzur. Application deadline is April 17, 2024.

Marble Charter School students spent the day with Roaring Fork Conservancy (RFC) #educators to learn about the science of #snow. Middle school students strapped on their snowshoes and became snow scientists for the day. RFC educators brought students to McClure Pass to learn how to calculate how much water is in the snowpack by digging snow pits, taking measurements with a snow tube, and melting different layers of snow. Students in grades 2-5 participated in a snow crystal study, learning how snow forms, and observing different types of snow crystals using field microscopes. They even created a class size human snow crystal! Students also studied wild animal tracks and learned how animals use snow to survive in the winter by designing and building dens in the snow. These dens act as insulators against cold winter nights and predators. RFC's educators create many hands-on programs to help #students understand that today's snow is tomorrow's flow. #colorado #watersupply #frozenreservoir Learn more about RFC's #education #programs at https://lnkd.in/gyHJsZqq.

Several weeks ago, Roaring Fork Conservancy's (RFC) education team kicked off the third year of our award-winning Watershed PenPal Program, in partnership with staff from Aurora Water (Colorado). This program connects students across the Continental Divide through hands-on lessons, fun outdoor experiences, modern technology, and good old fashion letter writing, exploring our most precious natural resource - #water ! This year, RFC was excited to bring on two new partnering schools, Dakota Valley Elementary School in the Cherry Creek School District and Sopris Elementary School Glenwood Springs (Roaring Fork School District), who will be paired together for this monumental transbasin learning. In total, 325 students from the four participating schools (the two listed above and Basalt Middle School and Aurora's Vista PEAK Exploratory) enrolled in the program, will exchange four letters with their pen pal from across the state. Over the course of the program, students will learn how people in Aurora and the Roaring Fork Valley both utilize water from the headwaters of the Fryingpan River via #transmountain #diversion #tunnels and complex water infrastructure systems. Ultimately, students will discover how water truly connects us all and how constituents on each side of the divide need to work together to conserve and protect this life-giving resource we all depend on in so many ways. To learn more about this award winning program, click here: https://lnkd.in/g9v79wSi

After a sunny and warm weekend on the Western Slope of Colorado - with temperatures reaching the high 50's and even 60F in some locations of the Roaring Fork Valley - snowpack in the Roaring Fork Watershed is currently 99% of normal. (Black line is current water year. Green line is median.) Could we drop further below average before winter is officially over? If so, what would that mean for spring and summer runoff conditions? And, how exactly is snowpack in remote, high elevations measured anyway? Find out the answers to these questions and more this Wednesday, February 21 as Dr. Jeffrey Deems from Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc. provides a glimpse into an emerging technology - originally created at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - to measure snowpack from an airplane using lidar technology. This presentation is FREE but registration is required. Get all the details and register at https://lnkd.in/g9CaGGmf

The Crystal River Restoration Project at Riverfront Park in Carbondale’s River Valley Ranch (RVR) is a dream come true, thanks to the Roaring Fork Conservancy, and incredible partners like Town of Carbondale, Pitkin County Healthy Rivers, the Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund, and more! 🌿 Accessible Path: Now, families of all abilities can enjoy the beauty of the Crystal River along an accessible path. 🏞 Breathtaking Views: Visit RVR’s Crystal Bridge Drive for breathtaking views with river access and the newly established low-flow channel. 🐟 Fishing Access: Take in the sights from above - see RVR’s classroom, adjacent fishing access, and carefully placed boulders that maintain the new channel and create fish habitat. 🌱 Reconnecting Floodplain: Witness the transformation of an area once covered in grasses, now reconnected to the floodplain, soon to be adorned with native vegetation in spring 2024. 🌳 Boardwalk Adventure: Embark on an adventure! Explore lush vegetation and wetland areas via the boardwalk, reinforcing and revegetating eroding spots, leading you to the picturesque riverbank. The Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund is thrilled to be able to help fund projects like these so that future generations may enjoy our precious waterways! The 2024 Colorado Healthy Rivers Fund application open period will begin on Monday, January 15th!  https://lnkd.in/ezdFe8K #RiverRestoration #CommunityPartnership #HealthyRiversFund #fundingopportunity

Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc. (ASO) is bringing a new, powerful perspective to measuring and monitoring our biggest water reservoir - the mountain snowpack. Conventional, station-based measurements (like SNOTEL) provide important, continuous monitoring at a small number of locations. While these stations form the backbone of our snowpack monitoring infrastructure, their locations in forest clearings within a narrow elevation range leave us blind to the the vast majority of the snowpack within a watershed. This is an important vulnerability, meaning we can have a good bit more or less snow in the watershed than indicated by the station data. ASO is filling this gap. Using technology and data workflows developed over nearly a decade at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ASO uses airborne laser and spectrometer mapping to provide accurate, high-resolution, and full-watershed maps of snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snow albedo. When combined with information from the SNOTEL network, we now have the necessary data resources to accurately capture the evolution of the seasonal mountain snowpack and to increase the reliablilty of runoff forecasting in changing climate and watershed conditions. Roaring Fork Conservancy is hosting this presentation with Dr. Jeffrey Deems, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer and Formulation Lead at ASO, where we will explore this ongoing paradigm shift in our ability to monitor our snowpack reservoir, with examples and case studies from the Roaring Fork watershed, Colorado, and California. This presentation is free but registration is required at https://lnkd.in/g9CaGGmf  

Farmers and ranchers in the Roaring Fork Valley (western slope of Colorado) have been coping with the effects of prolonged drought. Roaring Fork Conservancy recognizes the value and complexities of local agriculture and that is why we have partnered with several producers, Lotic Hydrological consulting, and Pitkin County Open Space and Trails in exploring opportunities of enhancing the resilience of ranching operations in the Roaring Fork Valley in times of water shortage. The project team is interested in identifying means for mitigating against the impacts of drought on productivity in mid- to high-elevation grass pastures and hay fields—the dominant agricultural land use in the Roaring Fork Valley. The study will work to identify field-scale treatments that can be used to minimize (or eliminate) reductions in crop yields and forage quality that are expected in times of limited water supply. Learn more about this project in this webinar, hosted by Western Landowners Alliance, where the project team and local rancher, discuss the project to-date. https://lnkd.in/gUKnc7zQ

Winter took it's time getting to Colorado this year, but it's here now and thankfully our snowpack is growing. How about learning a little bit more about our frozen reservoir on Tuesday, January 30? Jeff Derry, executive director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, will discuss the journey a snowflake takes once it falls in the Colorado Mountains, including the timing and distribution of snow accumulation, how we measure the snowpack, and how a streamflow forecast is made. Factors that influence snow accumulation/ablation, such as dust-on-snow and climate trends will also be discussed. Jeff will give an overview of the state-of-the-science research that Center for Snow & Avalanche Studies conducts and hosts in their Senator Beck Study Basin in attempts to improve understanding of our mountains, snowpack, and implications of the changes we are observing. This is a free, in-person program but registration is required due to limited seating. Please register at https://lnkd.in/g-tvqZQ9 .