Watershed forum details river health, climate change

By Mia Rupani, Telluride Daily Planet Staff Reporter

Suspected below-average monsoon activity could affect southwest Colorado where the evaporative demand is much higher than normal for this time of year, according to Becky Bolinger, assistant state climatologist for the Colorado Climate Center.

This issue, among others, was discussed on Friday, July 28, at the Lone Cone Library as part of the San Miguel Watershed Forum. The forum included presentations and panels from experts around Colorado.

The San Miguel River Watershed includes an 85-mile mainstem and 4,600 miles of tributary in San Miguel and Montrose counties. Sixty-five percent of the watershed is federally-owned land and 32% is privately owned.

Bolinger explained a water year is the term commonly used in hydrology to describe a time period of 12 months for which precipitation totals are measured. The water year started October 1 and goes through September 30.

Colorado received above-average precipitation for 2023.

“It is incredibly rare for us to have more wet months than dry months,” Bolinger said.

Temperature and precipitation are key factors that affect snowpack. The snow water equivalent, which is the depth of water that would cover the ground if the snow was in a liquid state, was measured at 28 inches in early April near the Lone Cone Mountain outside Norwood.

Bolinger said those numbers were “almost double” what is normally expected in that area.

“This was an awesome year for the San Juan mountains,” she said.

Water supplies were replenished and streams fully recovered at the beginning of summer; however, lower relative humidity and excessively warm temperatures have contributed to the high evaporative demand that is currently plaguing our area.

“It has been three to four degrees warmer than average consistently,” Bolinger said.

Evaporative demand measures the potential loss of water from the surface as driven by temperature, wind speed, humidity and cloud cover. High evaporative demand is connected to droughts and increased fire danger.

A 2023 climate change report by the Colorado Climate Center predicts an 8-17% increase in evaporative demand and a 5-30% reduction in annual streamflow volume by 2050.

A warming climate impacts many of the extremes and hazards that Coloradans experience, including wildfires, which the Colorado Climate Center anticipates will only become more frequent and intense in future years.

On Thursday, July 27, a lightning strike ignited a 10-acre fire in Naturita Canyon west of Thunder Road trails. The fire was fully contained by Sunday, July 30, with crews continuing to mop up the scene to prevent it from rekindling.

The San Miguel Watershed Coalition (SMWC) board of directors participated in a panel discussing climate change and watershed issues in San Miguel and Montrose counties. SMWC is an independent nonprofit established in 1997 which works to maintain and improve the ecological health of the San Miguel River.

Earl Reams, a rancher in the West End of Montrose County, believes the biggest issue impacting the watershed is the conversation, or lack thereof, between upper and lower river users.

“We have recreationists and agriculture,” Reams said. “These are two completely different communities and we need to try to work together. We might not agree with one another, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have discussions.”

Despite San Miguel and Montrose counties’ growing populations, the SMWC board members agree one of the watershed’s biggest strengths is how remote much of it is.

Sheep Mountain Alliance Executive Director Mason Osgood described the San Miguel River as “wild.”

“There are so many parts of the river that are difficult to get to,” Osgood said. “From a landscape perspective, the river is quite untouched.”

Osgood noted how many projects in the last decade have improved the overall health of the river. “It’s been great to see some of these legacy mining issues tackled,” he said.

Cherri Cooper with Colorado Cooperative Company Ditch recalled seeing orange-colored runoffs from the old mine sites surrounding Telluride when she was a young child, which have since been cleaned up.

SMWC Executive Director Adrian Bergere gave an update on current and future watershed projects, of which the total cost is an estimated $21 million. Projects include infrastructure improvements to the CC Ditch, the oldest water right on the San Miguel River, improvements to the boat passage between Norwood Bridge and Calamity Draw and creating a hydrological model of the San Miguel River watershed.

With Colorado and the Mountain West facing unprecedented drought conditions that threaten local and regional water supplies, low-tech stream restoration is becoming increasingly more popular.

These cost-effective and hand-built solutions help repair degraded streams by kickstarting ecological processes, rather than using construction equipment to force a stream into place.

Jackie Corday with Corday Natural Resources Consulting reviewed case studies on the effects of repairing streams with low-tech stream restoration techniques, including the benefits observed to surface and groundwater, overall water quality and improved aquatic and terrestrial habitat.

One low-tech stream restoration technique is known as “beaver mimicry.”

Corday said the goal is to reconnect the floodplain by using natural materials to build temporary structures that will slow the flow and catch sediment. Eventually, with any luck, beavers will return to the location and take over project areas where the structures were installed.

Beavers, according to Corday, are the “most beneficial longterm agents of maintaining river health.”

Beavers construct elaborate dams that result in a series of ponds and wetlands that hold water throughout the year. Unlike human-made dams, beaver dams allow water to flow through, which creates wetlands that merge with cooler groundwater, dropping temperatures downstream.

Corday said beavers also help wildfire-ravaged ecosystems recover.

“After the fire, the only thing that survives is often large beaver complexes,” she said.

Although the forum was at times bleak, Corday ended the discussion on a positive note: “There is a lot of hope in river restoration.”

Read the full article here.