Online Webinar
United States
This webinar will engage participants in a design overview, virtual tour, and lessons learned discussion of a hybrid river restoration and infrastructure project on the Cache la Poudre River (Poudre River) that blends a low-impact diversion structure for reliable water right flow delivery, river restoration, and equity-centered design. This project, named the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) Flow Restoration Project due to its location within Colorado State University’s ELC, protects an instream flow water right valued at $220 million.
The project was funded by the City of Fort Collins and designed by Stillwater Sciences. It incorporates elements novel to the urban Poudre River including a riffle crest diversion for reduced geomorphic and ecological disruptions, small wood installations and large pile-driven wood structures for geomorphic function and habitat, strategic channel and floodplain grading, accessibility trails and parking informed by community needs, and nursery pools to protect the native Fundulus sciadicus (Plains Topminnow) fish from non-native predator fish. The combination of these innovations serves multiple purposes to protect the diversion investment, reduce disruption of sediment and nutrient transport processes, and improve stream health, including fish passage. With these diverse benefits, the ELC project illustrates one successful path forward for hybrid river restoration and diversion design.
Speakers:
- Johannes Beeby, Senior River Scientist and Designer
- Bernadette Kuhn, Senior Environmental Planner/Project Manager, City of Fort Collins