Watershed Wildfire Protection Group
Mission :
To promote healthy watersheds by facilitating education and awareness; and facilitating prioritization, implementation, and monitoring for people and wildlife.
Vision :
To protect Colorado water supplies and critical infrastructure from catastrophic wildfire and other threats by maintaining healthy, resilient watersheds through collaboration, implementation, leveraging, and education.
Get in touch
Sign up for the WWPG mailing list and stay up to date on meetings:
Summary
Established in 2007
The Watershed Wildfire Protection Group (WWPG) is a state-wide collaborative group of water providers, watershed collaboratives, non-profits, private businesses, and federal, state and local agencies in Colorado. The WWPG has been in existence for 15 years.
The initial purpose of the WWPG was to develop a consistent technical approach for analysis and prioritization of watershed hazards from wildfires and the impacts on water supply. JW Associates facilitated the WWPG during the development of a watershed prioritization process in 2007-2009. That technical approach has been implemented in more than 15 watersheds in Colorado, plus some in Wyoming and Utah. That technical approach has been recently updated. More information is below.
The WWPG was initially called the Front Range Watershed Protection Data Refinement Work Group, which was part of the Front Range Roundtable. In 2012, the group expanded to being a statewide group, changed its name to WWPG and expanded its mission.
The WWPG has maintained the watershed wildfire assessment procedure by updating it and has also completed a collaborative project that produced a Post-fire Playbook (linked below).
WWPG Core Group
Aurora Water
Colorado Department of Health and Environment
Colorado Springs Utilities
Colorado State Forest Service
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Denver Water
Fire Adapted Colorado Network
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
The Nature Conversancy
US Forest Service
Stakeholder Partners
Water providers
Federal, state, and local agencies
Cities, towns, and counties
Watershed Partnerships and Organizations
Non-profits
Fire protection organizations
Recreation organizations
Private landowners
Other interested parties
If you would like to be added to the WWPG mailing list, please contact Brad Piehl at bpiehl@jw-associates.org
Aerial Mulching Project - WWPG Field Trip
J.W. Associates and Coalition of the Poudre River Watershed invited partners to the Black Hollow Watershed to observe aerial mulching in a high severity burn area of the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire. The focus of the aerial mulching is to protect the water quality of the watershed that flows through the burned area and restore the land.
Watershed Wildfire Assessments
Actions
Develop a comprehensive methodology to identify hazards to water supplies from wildfires, including a technical analysis and prioritization of zones of concern
Organize and facilitate stakeholder meetings and communication
Determination of watershed priorities
Identification of target areas for wildfire hazard reduction projects
Benefits
Protect critical water supplies and natural resources
Mitigate negative effects of wildfire through targeted projects
Protect river ecosystem functions and health
Provide technical assessments to support short- and long-term watershed planning & protection actions
Current & Past Watershed Wildfire Assessments
Watershed Wildfire Assessments has been implemented by JW Associates in more than 15 watersheds in Colorado, plus some in Wyoming and Utah. The watersheds in Colorado where the WWPG technical approach has been implemented are shown in the map below.
Multiple watershed groups are implementing watershed protection projects identified in the watershed wildfire assessments. A number of water providers have entered into a memorandums of understanding (MOU) with the US Forest Service to complete watershed protection projects. One of the best examples of this partnership is Colorado Springs Utilities’ partnership with the US Forest Service and the Colorado State Forest Service.
WWPG Collaborative Documents
Events
2024 Meetings
In-person Meeting
Location: Golden Community Center, Bear Creek Room, 2nd Floor
1470 10th St, Golden, CO 80401
Friday, February 23rd 10:00am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: TBD
Friday, May 17th
10 am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: TBD
Friday, August 16th
10 am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: TBD
Friday, November 15th
10 am - 3 pm
Past Meetings
In-person Meeting
Location: Denver Water
Thursday, April 6th
10 am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: Bailey, CO
Friday, May 19th
10 am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, Fort Collins, CO
Friday, August 18th
10 am - 3 pm
In-person Meeting
Location: Corona Environmental Consulting, Louisville, CO
Friday, November 19th
10 am - 3 pm
Past Meetings
2022 Meetings
August 2022
Field Trip to Cameron Peak Fire
Topics Discussed:
Burn Severity
Watershed Prioritization
Aerial Wood Mulching
October 2022
Virtual Meeting
Topics Discussed:
Wildfire Ready Watersheds - CWCB
COSWAP Program Updates
Effectiveness of Post-fire Aerial Mulching
2019 Meetings
February – Aurora location
May – Frisco location
July – Colorado Springs location
2018 Meetings
January – Colorado Springs location
July – Breckenridge location
November – Aurora location
2017 Meetings
July – Denver location