Today’s news cycle is full of articles discussing what is happening with the Colorado River and how Yampa and White River water users may be impacted due to climate change and the worsening river runoff conditions. 

We have all heard about water rights threatened to be abandoned because of loss of use due to aging irrigation infrastructure and the inability of local water users to keep up with the high costs of repair for infrastructure that may in some cases be up to nearly 100 years old. 

The State of Colorado recognized this 20 years ago and in 2005 passed legislation to create 9 Basin Roundtables across the state to guide river basin water initiatives.  In Northwest Colorado that is the Yampa-White-Green (YWG) Basin Roundtable.    

One of the primary focuses of the YWG Roundtable is to assist local farmers, ranchers, and other water users with Basin specific grant funding from Water Supply Reserve Funds (WSRF) backed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). These grants will enable them to repair aging infrastructure, develop plans for future drought conditions, and to provide for other improvements as defined by our Basin Implementation Plan.  

Over the course of the last four years a total of $1.4 million has been approved by the YWG BRT grants committee and another $2.5 million has been approved, or is in the process, from the state-wide CWCB approved program.  A large portion of these grant funds were used as a match for larger grant asks from other agencies, allowing nearly $10 million of improvement projects to be implemented in YWG Basin alone.    

These grants have funded repairs at the Maybell Ditch, Sheriff Reservoir, Stillwater Reservoir, as well as multiple smaller reservoirs throughout the YWG basin.  Many smaller repairs for infrastructure improvements to headgates, measuring devices, and bank stabilization projects have been funded to landowners as well.  Grant funds supported efforts for the Yampa River Corridor Project in Moffat County. 

In support of Colorado’s Water Plan Public Education Initiatives, funds have been provided to create water educational resources and to use those materials to teach Kindergarten through 12^th grade students in Rio Blanco, Routt, and Moffat County school districts.  

Many other basin projects supported by WSRF grants can be found on the YWG website yampawhitegreen.com on the Projects page.  Both on-going, completed, and historical projects are identified, and more information can be obtained by clicking the button at the bottom of each of the ongoing and completed tables of projects. This page also includes guidelines, timelines and required forms needed to apply for the WSRF grant.

The YWG/CWCB WSRF grant process has been a success by being able to bring grant funds into the Yampa-White-Green Basins to assist water users maintain their water rights and keep the basins rivers and streams working for local water users.