Community and Learning
SMP/IWMP leaders and practitioners from around the State continue to collaborate to share their knowledge and build support systems for each other as they work through their planning processes. Below you will find links to recorded peer-calls and presentations/notes from peer-learning workshops. All upcoming peer-learning events are also listed, along with registration information.
Upcoming Events
Pre-Conference Stream Management Planning Workshop
October 10, 2022 (1:00 – 5:00 pm)
Avon, Colorado
Previous Events
Peer Calls
SMPs and Forest Health
4/14/2022
Participants joined River Network, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Mountain Studies Institute, and the Boulder Watershed Collective in a conversation about integrating forest health into Stream Management Plans. Together we thought through why it’s important for SMPs to include an element of forest health, how to incorporate forest health into SMPs, and the benefits of doing so.
Presentations were heard from:
2022 Updates & R2Cross Training
2/3/2022
Participants learned about Colorado Water Plan updates and new SMP support tool development from CWCB, and about the accomplishments of SMPs over the past five years from River Network. Participants also heard from Seth Mason, Lotic Hydrological, about how to use the R2Cross methodology to help set flow targets. You can watch Seth’s presentation from our fall workshop about flow targets here.
Presentations were heard from:
Nicole Seltzer, River Network
Ask a Practitioner
Data Management and Tools
8/15/21
Hannah Holm, Director of the Hutchins Water Center at Colorado Mesa University, and Seth Mason, Principal Hydrologist at Lotic Hydrological, discuss their approaches and experience with managing the vast amounts of data that typically result from a river health assessment. They cover two aspects of data within the SMP process:
Using Recreation Surveys to Understand Community Preferences
8/26/20
Holly Loff, Eagle River Watershed Council and Laurie Rink, Middle Colorado Watershed Council discuss their customized approaches to understanding their community’s preferences on river flows, uses, and access. More information on the American Whitewater flow preference survey and other approaches for understanding river-based recreation can be found here.
View the 16-minute video
Peer Workshops
Yampa River SMP Peer Learning Field Trip
7/7/2022
During this workshop, participants conversed with local and regional experts, got their hands dirty, and tested out a variety of assessment methods and techniques to help them with their own SMP/IWMP processes.
Yampa River Basin Overview, Jenny Frithsen, Friends of the Yampa, and Nicole Seltzer, River Network
Mock Diversion Assessment & Alternative Approaches (bonus: Yampa Diversion Infrastructure Assessment Field Sheet), Brian Murphy, River Network, and Ashley Ficke, GEI Consultants
Fluvial Hazard Mapping and Project Design Implications, Katie Jagt, Watershed Science and Design, and Jennifer Wellman, The Nature Conservancy
Flow Assessment Methods Training, Katie Birch, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and Jay Skinner, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (retired)
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- R2Cross Model and Resources (includes R2Cross data entry template)
- CWCB Instream Flow Program
View the agenda.
Flow Targets Workshop (Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference)
10/4/2021
During this workshop, participants learned the basics of how to set and evaluate environmental and recreational flow targets, how to set the process up for success and best practices and common challenges for bringing stakeholders together to align on setting targets.View the video recording.