Partnership aims to protect Fort Collins’ water from wildfire
Partnership aims to protect Fort Collins’ water from wildfire
27 March 2013
published by www.coloradoan.com
USA — About 860,000 people in Fort Collins and throughout the Front Range rely on a water system that is extremely vulnerable to wildfire.
Now a group of agencies has come together to help improve watershed health around reservoirs in the headwaters of the Colorado River the source of about half of Fort Collins drinking water supplies.
About 90 percent of the trees in the forests around Grand County lakes supplying water to Horsetooth and other reservoirs have been killed by bark beetles, posing a major risk to water supplies.
The U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, Northern Water and the Colorado State Forest Service have agreed to work together to establish a joint program to treat fire-prone forests on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Called the Colorado-Big Thompson Headwaters Partnership, the agencies will work together to improve the watershed health above major Grand County reservoirs that supply water to Horsetooth Reservoir, Carter Lake and other reservoirs that supply water to Front Range cities.
The partnership is in the early stages of planning, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement Wednesday.
