Big Thompson Wildfire/Watershed Assessment
Project Summary
Completion Date: 2011
Partners
US Forest Service
JWA completed the Big Thompson Wildfire/Watershed Assessment. The assessment followed a procedure prescribed by the Watershed Wildfire Protection Group titled “Protecting Critical Watersheds in Colorado from Wildfire: A Technical Approach to Watershed Assessment and Prioritization”. The basic analysis for the Big Thompson Watershed was completed as part of the Bark Beetle Incident project.
The Big Thompson Wildfire/Watershed Assessment identifies, prioritizes, and recommends measures to protect those watersheds that provide or convey critical community water supplies. JWA also completed an opportunities and constraints analysis to identify potential next steps for watershed protection.
The report and related documents can be found below in the Documents section. A slide show of the maps from the report can be viewed below in the Maps section.
Project Actions
Identification & prioritization of critical watersheds
Identify potential hazards to water supply in zones of concern
Recommendation of measures to protect critical watersheds
Completion of an opportunities and constraints analysis to identify potential next steps for watershed protection
Organizing and facilitating stakeholder meetings and communication
Benefits
Protect critical water supplies and natural resources from adverse effects of post-wildfire hydrologic changes, including:
Flooding
Erosion
Debris flows
Deposition
Mitigate negative effects of wildfire through targeted projects
Develop collaborative support for the assessment process within stakeholder groups
Maps
The maps in the slide show below are from the Big Thompson Wildfire/Watershed Assessment. Click on the slide show to view the maps. The legend text identifies the ranking item. Descriptions of the maps and how they were created are contained in the report located in the Documents section.
