Lower Poudre Watershed Resilience Plan
About The Plan
The historic flood events of September 2013 delivered significant flooding and damage throughout Larimer and Weld Counties. In Weld County hundreds of residents were displaced by the flooding prompting the Weld County Commissioners to declare a disaster emergency, while Governor Hickenlooper declared a disaster emergency in 14 counties including Weld and Larimer counties.
The expensive and devastating aftermath of the flood revealed the necessity to minimize risk of the river corridor by creating a more resilient community. In the Lower Poudre River, an important component of increasing resiliency includes understanding the impacts of sediment transport.
These flood events have called for an increase in resiliency of the Lower Poudre watershed. This is done using an integrated multi-objective Master Plan to assess river dynamics and Sediment Transport Model in order to propose realistic restoration options around the river corridor.
This master plan seeks to identify and prioritize the following objectives:
Remaining unmet recovery/restoration needs
Hazards to the ecosystem, community, recreation, and transportation infrastructure
Opportunities to create resilience to future floods
Opportunities to improve river health (increase habitat connectivity, improve wildlife habitat, provide more floodplain access, etc.