2019 ANNUAL REPORT
ARKANSAS RIVER WATERSHED COLLABORATIVE
Our mission is to serve Arkansas River Basin communities by addressing locally-identified watershed issues for economic, ecological & social benefit.
A message from Chelsey Nutter - ARWC Executive Director
Within my first year as ARWC Executive Director, I worked on catastrophic post-fire flooding in Fremont County. I jumped into post-fire & flood recovery on the third most massive fire in Colorado's recorded history in Huerfano County. Then I watched as a wildfire burned in my hometown in Chaffee County. There is nothing like learning through experience. That was only the post-fire side of ARWC activities. Fortunately, I had a lot of support along the way, including being mentored by Carol Ekarius - one of the best in post-fire recovery. The highlights of 2019 were moving forward with multi-stakeholder wildfire mitigation projects in the basin, meeting with partners to learn more about the community's needs and how ARWC may help fill those needs, and getting to know and work with my incredible staff.
In our first year, we went from no staff to a full-time staff of five. This alone shows our success and drive in 2019. I feel honored that every member of the ARWC team chose to work with us and proud that we could secure such talented employees. Each of our team members brings with them incredible expertise, skill, and heart. I am pleased to say that in a short amount of time, we have become a cohesive team that is dedicated to the future of the organization and committed to the challenging yet rewarding work that lies ahead.
As I look back on 2019, I am proud of the work that ARWC has accomplished. We with our partners were able to secure over 3.4 million in funding for projects. Now that we have gotten our feet wet, we are ready to emerge as the Arkansas Basin’s leader in wildfire mitigation and post-fire recovery projects. We hope to serve as a liaison for the Ark Basin Water Community in the development and execution of forestry-related projects with a focus on the protection of our water resources and infrastructure. As we look forward to 2020, I am excited to watch ARWC continue to grow. We have numerous projects in the works, including the implementation of the Monarch Pass Project. Developing large-scale multi-agency wildfire mitigation projects around our upper basin reservoirs & continuing to provide support and execute recovery projects in communities dealing with post-fire disasters. Lastly, we look forward to working with each of YOU on the development of projects across the Basin.
Thank you to the Arkansas Basin Roundtable, basin water conservancy districts, utilities, federal, state, and local partners and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for your support, encouragement, knowledge and partnerships. We hope we have made you proud.
Chelsey
Thank you to our funders, partners and supporters.
Arkansas Basin Roundtable, Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc. , Coalition for the Upper South Platte, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Springs Utilities, Pueblo Board of Water Works, Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Huerfano County Water Conservancy District, Chaffee County, Fremont County, Lake County, Huerfano County, Parkville Water District, Aurora Water, City of Salida, Town of Poncha Springs, Trout Unlimited, River Science, USFS, BLM, the Arkansas River Basin Water Forum, and all others who have supported us along the way.
We couldn’t do it without you.