Phase 1 of Fish Creek Restoration Complete
Student volunteers line up to install wooden posts that will serve as the foundation for an artificial beaver dam (see below) designed to reduce erosion and allow suspended sediments to settle out.
Written By: Jenny Forrester, EVWC Volunteer
Since the 2013 flood, one of the top priorities for the Estes Valley Water Coalition has been the restoration of eroded streambeds. A healthy streambed is lined with beneficial trees and other plants which help to slow damaging run-off, absorb pollution, and provide shade to reduce evaporation, creating a cleaner, cooler water supply. This riparian vegetation can also provide habitat for beavers (a species native to Colorado) which create additional positive effects on streambeds by building dams that keep more water on the land, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of drought.
A volunteer from Fair Oaks Presbyterian Youth Group in Chicago carries cut aspen branches that will help to reinforce the artificial beaver dams.
Over the past two years, EVWC has been working with Cheley Camp to address the need for additional beaver habitat on their property along Fish Creek, located roughly six miles SW of Estes Park. The Cheley's bought the 230-acre Fish Creek Ranch in the early 80s, which connects to their main property purchased back in 1926. Cheley Camp and Cheley Ranch employ a many-pronged, community-oriented approach to caring for their land, including working with a host of volunteers and various local groups. Bo Winslow, Estes Operations Director, says, “We’re working with many different nonprofits and quasi-governmental agencies, with a vision for a healthier property.”
Once the posts are installed and branches woven through them for support, buckets of mud are packed in to seal the artificial beaver dams, which not only help to improve water quality, but also to encourage actual beavers to re-settle in this area.
Phase I of the restoration work on Fish Creek was completed in September 2023. It involved installing earthen berms and other structures mimicking beaver dams to slow down and retain water, adding additional channels to spread out water flow over a greater area, and planting willows and other native plants to help speed up revegetation. Significant planning efforts were required before any work could actually begin, including engaging with engineers to develop an approved plan, ensuring compliance with Larimer County floodplain mandates, installing game cameras to learn more about the beavers’ behavior, and formalizing a monitoring protocol using an adaptive management approach.
A legion of volunteers from Estes Park Middle School stand ready to help restore another section of Fish Creek just downstream from Cheley Ranch.
In addition to receiving in-kind support from the Cheley Ranch, EVWC was able to engage around 100 amazing volunteers over the past two years in order to complete all of these tasks needed to finalize the project. We are encouraged by the successful outcome of this massive undertaking, and are looking forward to expanding the project on Fish Creek, and to replicating these efforts in other local streambeds in the coming years.