SMHJR water

Forests are flood mitigation devices, hydrophobic soil is created by fires which leads to increased flood risk.

‘Suddenly you have a healthy forest that has a lot of absorptive capacities for water turns into a concrete parking lot.’ – Andrew Rumbach, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning University of Colorado Denver.

He noted that the issue is state wide, and the downstream effects of debris can cause risk and destruction.

2.5 million acres of forest contribute to Denver Water's supply for roughly 1.8 million people. The vas geographic area leads to a 'whack a mole' problem according to Tony Cheng, Director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.

Fire is needed for a healthy forest, as it provides nutrients for new trees and allows for the ecological cycle to take place. The issue is when nature impacts communtites, or when communities impact nature.

You are looking at Cheesman Reservoir. It is one of Denver's oldest damns and is a part of the Upper South Platte Watershed.

You can see the burn scar from the Haymen and Buffalo Creek fires in this photo. Denver Water and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute both worked hard to mitigate the problems caused by the fires, but the impact is a case study into the costs of climate change.

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In the wake of the Heyman and Buffalo Creek Fires roughly 20 years ago, the scene pictured is what drove federal legislation and funding to start to combat wildland fires across America. With the current federal democrat administration primed to combat climate change, the possibility to mitigate the natural hazard and trickle down effects is beginning to be seen. You will note that thoughout this page, federal, state and local elected officals have to work with one another to achieve any action or goal.

By Steven Michael Hlavac Jr.

The Dredging of dams is a costly process. Hazardous materials as well as sediment form at the bottom of the dams due to wildfires. Mitigation efforts were taken after the Haymen and Buffalo Creek fires, but the costs to dredge Strontia Springs Reservior, just downstream from Cheesman Reservoir, was 18.5 million dollars.

Picture is courtesy of HIstory Colorado Archives.

The Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle has been a catalyst for tree deaths in the wake of warmer climate, which leads to the larvae of the beetle not being killed, and then the beetle carries a fungus which kills trees. The trees then dry out after death, as sapwood is blocked by the blue fungus, preventing nutrient flow.

Fires can also spread from urban areas into the wildland areas with dried trees.

Speculation leads to hope that the trend of climate change will be curbed by the election of the new federal administration, but much work still needs to be done. Political action is voiced as a need at all levels, and elected officials from the bottom up are aiming to solve the issues locally so the national prolem is curbed.

The Upper South Platte Partnership works to protect 80% of Denver's water, which is shown by the current capacity in red. These reservoirs are all owned by denver water. They fight fires on every front, including mitiation techniques which can be costly.

The Colorado Forest Restoration Institute was founded in the early 2000's by congressional funding alongside several other institutes to midigate the ongoing impacts of the fires.

Bipartisan efforts backed by local, state and federal officials have led to increased cooperation to mitigate fire effects based on the contigency plans put forth by the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. The work going into preventing the ongoing issues will take the ongoing collaboration of prifvate landowners, businesses, nonprofits, universities, fire districts, cities, counties, and states to attempt to protect individual watersheds.