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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCO Water Plan Grant LOS 8.20.20.docx August 20, 2020 Chris Sturm Stream Restoration Coordinator Colorado Water Conservation Board (303) 866-3441 ext. 3209 chris.sturm@state.co.us 1313 Sherman Street, Room 718 Denver, CO 80203 Dear Mr. Sturm, I am writing on behalf of Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners to provide support for American Whitewater’s Colorado Water Plan grant proposal. Their project, Economic Impact and Flow Preference of River Recreation, will provide a dynamic new outlook for river recreation, and quantify the economic benefit that river recreation has on river basins and local municipalities across the state of Colorado. American Whitewater will achieve this goal by conducting flow preference and Boatable Days studies, as identified in the Colorado Water Conservation Board nonconsumptive toolbox, and partnering the results with an economic study to quantify existing recreational opportunities, the economic impact to the local community, and how future water conditions will impact recreation and the economy. We recognize that this project will take place across multiple basins, but we are supportive that this project will focus, in part, on the Roaring Fork Valley and that it will build off of ongoing work by American Whitewater to quantify recreation opportunities in the Valley. With the economic downturn that has taken place in 2020, and the proven economic benefits of outdoor recreation, this tool, once implemented, will be utilized by local governments, water managers, and Chambers of Commerce to help build a more resilient and community-oriented economy for the future. This project proposes to utilize the flow preference approach that has already been identified in the nonconsumptive toolbox of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the economic modeling approach has been developed by economists and graduate students at the University of Colorado Boulder. The approach has community buy-in, and will be tailored specifically to meet the needs of the Roaring Fork Valley. In June, 2020, Pitkin County and the Healthy Rivers Board awarded American Whitewater with $19,355 to quantify river recreation opportunities through a flow preference study and American Whitewater’s Boatable Days Tool. Using the results from these studies to inform an economic analysis of river recreation will be beneficial to our county, businesses, and residents. The Pitkin County Board of Commissioners are pleased with the direction this project is taking, and we encourage the Colorado Water Conservation Board to approve their Colorado Water Plan grant application, so that we may continue to quantify river recreation opportunities and the economic potential of river recreation in the Roaring Fork Valley. Sincerely, PITKIN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Steven F. Child, Chair