Northern Water this summer collaborated on one of its largest proactive forest health and source water protection projects to date, doing so in recognition that protecting water quality starts long before supplies ever reach a reservoir or treatment plant.
Phase 1 of the Chimney Hollow/Carter Lake Watershed Protection Project took place during June and July, focusing on forest-thinning and wildfire-fuels reduction in the Dry Creek watershed directly adjacent to Carter Lake and the recently built Chimney Hollow Reservoir. Northern Water helped fund this Colorado State Forest Service-led project as part of efforts to help protect that critical water infrastructure and the quality of water flowing into those systems.
Severe wildfire can create long-term issues for water supplies, with increased erosion, sediment and debris from burned areas washing into nearby reservoirs and streams, sometimes for several years post-fire.
Northern Water has worked with numerous partners who have collectively spent millions of dollars on post-fire restoration projects in some of the watersheds above its collections and distributions infrastructure, particularly following the 2020 East Troublesome Fire in Grand County, which was the second-largest fire in Colorado history.
The Chimney Hollow/Carter Lake Watershed Protection Project, by contrast, represents a more proactive approach, as well as one that’s potentially more cost-effective. Studies show that for every dollar spent on proactive forest-health measures and wildfire prevention saves about $7 in wildfire response, damages and associated costs.
The Phase 1 portion of the project that took place this summer covered 60 acres on private land and included strategic thinning of dense ponderosa pine trees, which over the years had become overgrown due in part to the area having not experienced fire in recorded history. The cut trees were then mulched and spread across the landscape to help enrich the forest’s soil and also minimize hillslope erosion.
The CSFS-led work this summer came in addition to the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority doing similar work across about 10 acres in the Chimney Hollow-Carter Lake area.
Phase 2 of the project is scheduled for next year and will call for similar work taking place across 150 acres.