The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About07 July 2024 packet Agenda items are subject to change – Times are approximate and are also subject to change Agenda | July 18, 2024 Virtual Meeting ONLY via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83692215814?pwd=eZc2QnTyL6j74c8DJtjpoOh0dm Jira.1 Passcode: 531118; Webinar ID: 836 9221 5814 Phone: 1 719 359 4580 TIME ITEM Administrative Items 4:00 PM Board Comment Public Comment Additions/Deletions to Agenda Outreach/Education/Grants 4:15 PM Wild and Scenic Funding Update- Contractor for Literature Search for Unique Natural Values of the Crystal River Supported by River Flows- Instream Flow Subcommittee for the Wild and Scenic Feasibility Collaborative- Andrew Steininger, Subcommittee Chair, River Engineer, AECOM; and possibly other members of the Instream Flow Subcommittee (no budget impact) 4:45 PM Funding Request- Contractor for Technical Support and Document Review for the Lincoln Creek Workgroup;– Kurt Dahl, Environmental Health Manager, Pitkin County; Lisa Tasker, Healthy Rivers Program, Pitkin County Staff Reports 5:00 PM Monthly Staff Report- Lisa Macdonald and Lisa Tasker 5:15 PM Open Discussion Executive Session 5:30 PM Proposed items for discussion in executive session. Advice from counsel pursuant to C.R.S.24-6-402(4)(b). City of Aspen FERC license amendment 6:00 PM Adjourn 1 Agenda items are subject to change – Times are approximate and are also subject to change Upcoming 2024 Regular Meetings: Aug 15, Sept 19, Oct 17, Nov 21, Dec 19 2 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY BOARD MEETING DATE: July 18, 2024 AGENDA ITEM TITLE: Funding Request: Contractor for Technical Support and Document Review for the Lincoln Creek Workgroup STAFF RESPONSIBLE: Kurt Dahl, Pitkin County Environmental Health Manager Lisa Tasker, Pitkin County Healthy Rivers ISSUE STATEMENT: Funding request for hiring a consulting entity to advise on current multi-agency efforts within the Lincoln Creek Watershed related to the increasing water quality issues of recent years and to review and incorporate EPA data on heavy metals loading revealed to the public in February 2024. BACKGROUND: Healthy Rivers and Environmental Health staff continue to participate and help lead the Lincoln Creek Workgroup and this now includes hiring a consultant. Consensus has formed around the effort within the Workgroup for a hired consulting group to complete a smaller list of tasks than originally envisioned. These intentions to hire a consulting entity have been mentioned in prior meetings with the Healthy Rivers Board and the BOCC. Tasks requested now include reviewing the existing EPA report, other accessible data, completing a site visit, and commenting on the myriad 2024 sampling plans of CPW, USFS, CU-INSTAAR, RFC, and Pitkin County Environmental Health. These efforts are requested to be undertaken by the hired consultant with the goal of informing ideas of future mitigation or even restoration efforts, if any are possible. This is being referred to as Phase I. Interviews related to the two final proposals/firms will occur next Monday, July 22nd by a subcommittee of the greater Lincoln Creek Workgroup. To date, the Independence Pass Foundation has acquired a grant with plans for providing partial funding for these initial consulting efforts and has been instrumental in the search for professional entities that could help, along with requested input from experts at Trout Unlimited. The BOCC chair has firmly stated the issues on Lincoln Creek are currently of a high priority for Pitkin County overall and have supported Healthy Rivers and Environmental Health’s strong involvement. BUDGETARY IMPACT: Greater than 50% of approximately $10,000 to $16,000 to provide the majority funding for professional contractor support and review of the combined data collection efforts regarding the Lincoln Creek Watershed water quality plans happening this year. REQUESTED BOARD ACTION: Healthy Rivers Board support for greater than 50% of the funds for hiring a professional consulting firm to advise the short-term efforts of the Lincoln Creek Workgroup with long term goals in mind, the effort referred to as Phase I by the Lincoln Creek Workgroup. 3 MEETING DATE: July 18, 2024, TO: Healthy Rivers Board FROM: Lisa Tasker and Lisa Macdonald CC: Ry Neiley and Laura Makar AGENDA ITEM: Monthly Staff Report Administrative: Draft Contracts for grant awardees. Move funds for scholarship recipients Assist in drafting a letter of support for SB-1379 ultimately submitted to the State Legislature by the BOCC and Healthy Rivers Develop a permitting system for use at the Whitewater Park. Issued permits to Swift Water Rescue workshop occurred 6/15-16 and 7/6-7. Attend BOCC regular meetings East Mesa Budget Supplemental and USFS Collection Agreement Amendment Formal Resolutions June 12th and 26th Attend BOCC work session with Environmental Health for update of the activities of the Lincoln Creek Working Group June 27 Attend BOCC work session with Roaring Fork Community Development, Wilderness Workshop and Roaring Fork Conservancy regarding grants, June 27 and July 9 Beaver booklets completed and picked up from printers. Projects and Infrastructure: Beaver Project with the USFS Continue to work with USFS on projects for 2024. USFS modified collection agreement to River Board in May and to BOCC for approval May 28 with formal acceptance via resolutions in June. Meetings ongoing. Sam Caudill State Wildlife Area Request for Proposals issued. Mandatory pre-bid meeting July 16, 2024. Bids due July 29, 2024. Selection committee meets week of July 29th. Floodplain permit submitted to Garfield County. CPW drafting closure messaging Wild and Scenic Efforts Crystal Wild and Scenic and Other Alternatives Steering Committee’s contracted meeting with facilitators was February 29th. Smaller sub committees continue to meet. Please use the Crystal Valley Echo’s website link to stay up-to-date on the Steering Committee activities and watch past recorded Zoom programs: https://thecrystalvalleyecho.com/wild-scenic-stakeholder Last presented update to BOCC was May 7th. Crystal River Restoration Project – Town of Carbondale Partnership on Project On-going team meetings continue. Construction/ landscape work is complete. Irrigation was tested the week of May 6th. The Town of Carbondale opened the park to the public in the spring. Meetings with the project partners and DHM have been working to get signs designed and fabricated for the length of the project. Lincoln Creek/Ruby Mine The new local Lincoln Creek Working Group, organized by Kurt Dahl and Lisa Tasker consisting of Pitkin Co, CPW, RFC, RWPA, City of Aspen, USFS, TU, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co, ACES, Independence Pass Foundation, Wilderness Workshop, and some individual citizens continues to meet. Kurt and Lisa are attending the board meeting today, Jul 4 18, to present plans for hiring a contractor to help the group efforts in the short term. The first sampling event occurred on June 4th and the team was able to drive up to Grizzly Reservoir. RFC, USFS, Pitkin Co Environmental Health, Healthy Rivers, and Diane McKnight’s two grad students all participated with CPW scheduled for their first trip June 17th and 18th. CPW, RFC, Diane McKnight’s grad students, USFS, and Pitkin Co Environmental Health continue to make planned sampling trips throughout the summer. Whitewater/ Fish Park Streamside Amenities Danger and Caution signage install at access points to park and Fish Park due to high water on boulder path Social Media blast about using caution posted June 7th Continued meetings with civil & landscape engineers and Town of Basalt staff regarding park plans and construction in 2024. Town of Basalt staff has reviewed and okayed the road realignment and fiber optic plans. At the presentation to the Town of Basalt Town Council at their June 11th regular meeting Council authorized the road re-alignment final design with the request to bring it back to Council with the traffic plan outlined by an awarded contractor. Awaiting bid document from engineers to put bid out. Possibly by week of July 29th. Boardwalk Received building permit to install handrails on boardwalk. Railings shipped from WI and received but due to contractor emergency new contractor hired. Railings installed and permit sign off by Building Dept on May 31st. Protective fencing removed June 4th Fiber Worked with Ting, to move fiber optic cable to allow for more room on the river side of Two Rivers Road. Ting’s construction contractor, Rocky Mountain Underground LLC, under contract with Pitkin County for the move. Right of Way Permit applied for and obtained from Town of Basalt. May 17th Pre-construction meeting May 20th Rocky Mountain Underground Construction mobilized and started Project completed Emergency Access May 28th Emergency Access path out to bid June 6th Emergency Access Pre-Bid meeting with contractors. Six contractors attended but was not mandatory. June 19th Bids due June 20th Selection committee – bid review and award Environmental Excavation awarded contract. Awaiting traffic control plan to submit to Town of Basalt for right of way permit in order to begin project. Dec 14th Construction complete or lose GOCO funding Marble Charter School May 22nd Crystal Day in Redstone. Contact with the new administration and Wild Rose Education planned for final reports and promised documentation. Outreach/Education/Grants • Ads are running on KDNK and KMTS and APR. Added the Mountain stations May 1st . Content suggestions are always welcome. • Comms Team and staff developed Aspen 82 (LOCAL) ad materials. Successful seven on mountain interviews! • Beaver Education Campaign details are ongoing. Social media and other avenues are moving forward. Completed and printed- “It’s About Dam Time” beaver booklets created by Healthy Rivers communications team and staff- Back40, b2inc, and Schwener Design Group 5 • Wild and Scenic Rivers local FAQ handout in final development stage. Executive summary in review process • 2024 Scholarship information provided to the schools. Kirstin and Andre volunteered to be on committee. 1 from Aspen, 3 from Basalt and 4 from the Watershed (Yampa and Glenwood). Successful applicants have been notified and funds are being dipersed. • EPA publicly presented their water quality testing results from Grizzly and Lincoln Creek efforts on February 1st at the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center from 6-7:30PM. • Crystal Valley Echo February 2024 edition had front page coverage of the Marble Charter School river related efforts in conjunction with the Healthy Rivers Program • USFS Beaver Project and RFC Ag Efficiency Study articles in Aspen Times. • Six Spring Grant applications received. One Sponsorship request. • Crystal Caucus attendance July 11, wild and scenic on the agenda • Education and Training 2024: • Colorado Water Congress Winter Conference Denver January 31- Feb 2 - Neff in person and Tasker virtual • Training: Translating SB23-270, Projects to Restore Natural Stream Systems, January 11- Tasker • Naturalist Night – Carbondale Jan 24th 6:00 pm Wilderness Workshop hosted Jennifer Back to speak about Wild and Scenic rivers Tasker/MacDonald • EPA Lincoln Creek Meeting – Tasker/MacDonald, Huber, Wheatley and BOCC member Francie Jacober Feb 1 6-8 pm Basalt • CWCB Instream Flow Workshop Webinar on-line, 4-6:00 pm Tasker • Wild and Scenic Stakeholders webinar with Jennifer Beck and Roy Smith to explore additional questions about Wild and Scenic designation Feb 8th 6:00 pm zoom Tasker/MacDonald • Wild and Scenic stakeholders webinar on the Niobrara National Scenic River - February 26, 2024 6:00 pm Tasker/MacDonald • Rivers Edge West biannual river restoration conference, March 5-7th Tasker • Just Trust Me: Exploring and understanding the Role of Trust in Collaborative Efforts, Rivers Edge West, CMU, 8:30-11:30am March 7th Tasker • QQ meeting March 21st Tasker, MacDonald, McNichols-Kury, Makar • Hanging in the Balance: Competing Needs for Water in the West – April 9th TACAW – Basalt 6:15 pm Tasker, MacDonald, Wheatley, Mrotek, Neff attended • River Rally by River Network – May 13-16 – Tasker • Process Based Restoration Workshop June 17/18 Spring Valley Campus, field trips to Cattle Creek and Fourmile Park-Neff, Tasker. Staff helped with the field trip plans. Tasker, Ramey and CPW on a panel. ONGOING- Staff continues to participate and/or collaborate with the following groups: • Colorado Water Congress State Affairs Committee meetings Mondays 8:00 am when in session • Roaring Fork Wildfire Collaborative the first Thursday of every month as applicable. • Watershed Collaborative Meetings, Board is on listserv and receives updates • Colorado Basin Roundtable half day meetings every 2 months • Crystal River Wild and Scenic Core Group, Collaborative, Coalition/Advocacy, Stakeholder meetings • Stakeholder meeting 12/14/23, 5 – 8 pm. Last stakeholder meeting February 29th 5-8 in Marble 6 • Zoom with Roy Smith and Jennifer Back Crystal River Wild and Scenic and Other Alternatives Feasibility Collaborative Steering Committee for a Zoom meeting on Thursday, February 8 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. • Wild and Scenic Stakeholder’s webinar on the Niobrara National Scenic River - February 26, 2024 6:00 to 7:30 pm Tasker/MacDonald • Stakeholder meeting February 29th, 5:00 – 8:00 pm Marble Tasker/MacDonald. Three subcommittees formed to continue work in pursuit of three protections: Intergovernmental Agreement, Peaking In-Stream Flows, and Wild and Scenic. The IGA committee has met once. The W&S Subcommittee and the Peaking ISF subcommittees continue to meet monthly and plan to reconvene with the larger steering committee at the end of the summer/early fall. W&S Tasker, McNicholas-Kury; Peaking ISF Tasker • Local Beaver group including CPW, USFS, BLM, RFC, Sierra Club, EcoFlight, The Roaring Fork Biodiversity Initiative, National Forest Foundation and others - no scheduled meetings. A subset of this group met May 29th in Carbondale. Tasker/Macdonald • Lincoln Creek/Grizzly/Ruby Mine stream impact discussions via Zoom with Pitkin, EPA, CPW, USFS, DNR, RFC, Trout Unlimited, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. • EPA meeting 2/1/24 6-8 pm • Local working group meetings started 2/9/24 • Three teams have been formed; Public Comms, Short Term Water Quality Monitoring, Long Term Sampling and Mitigation • Full working group meetings, all teams, continue monthly or more as needed • National Wild and Scenic Coalition Zoom every two months • National W&S Rivers Virtual Hill Week 2/13-2/15 as applicable. Tasker • Meetings on the first Friday every two months • Riverscape Restoration Network Meetings with American Rivers and Audubon Rockies– • January 24th meeting Dr. Michael Pollock, NOAA Research Scientist, discussed his research on the multiple benefits of hydrologically connected floodplains for salmonids and other species and how beaver improve the quality and accessibility of floodplain habitat. • Low Tech Processed Based Restoration state of the science report - Jackie Corday • April 11th 2:00-3:30. A Most Excellent River Science Research Journey with Dr. Ellen Wolh and Dr. Julianne Scamardo on recent research and contributions to understanding the functions/values of floodplains, the wood regime, beaver, and process-based restoration. Tasker • Process-based Stream Restoration Workshop June 17 & 18 CMC Spring Valley Campus Glenwood Springs. USFS, CPW and Healthy Rivers on a panel. • Beaver Working Group for the state of Colorado Beaver Working Group Virtual meeting on May 3rd • Montana Beaver Action Plan - Shelby Weigand, National Wildlife Federation, spoke about the stakeholder process of developing Montana's Beaver Action Plan (attached) and covered the highlights of the plan strategies. Updates from Jackie, NWF & TRCP on work to support CPW developing a statewide beaver mgt plan and other beaver related work and Nichole Fox's Give a Dam beaver related work updates. Tasker & MacDonald 7