The Yampa River Fund Steering Committee has announced its grant recipients for 2026, awarding roughly $160,000 to six projects aimed at benefiting the Yampa River and its tributaries.

Launched in September 2019, the Yampa River Fund is an endowment fund of the Yampa Valley Community Foundation.

Its mission is to provide a sustainable, voluntary funding source for the Yampa River to enhance water security and support a healthy, flowing river by enhancing critical low flows and maintaining or improving river function through a holistic approach to restoration of habitat.  

The Fund, governed by a 21-member founding board representing local stakeholders, typically supports a program that adds additional flow releases into the Yampa River from Stagecoach to Elkhead reservoirs, according to a news release.

This year, however, that program was able to secure all of its needed funding from other sources, allowing the Yampa River Fund to focus on different types of projects with a variety of goals.

“This year has been an exciting one for the fund, as we were able to fully fund six requests for unique projects,” said Jackie Brown, chair of the Yampa River Fund Board. “Demand for project funding is increasing as more landowners and organizations identify projects that improve the resilience of the valley’s water supply.” 

The 2026 Yampa River Fund grant recipients are:

Yampa River – Walton Creek Confluence Restoration – City of Steamboat Springs

This is a multi-benefit restoration project on open space lands owned by the city and protected by conservation easements. The project includes a final design and implementation for 71 acres of riparian/wetland restoration on the Williams Preserve.

Warhorse Ranch Stream Restoration – Friends of the Yampa

Friends of the Yampa will complete a multi-benefit project on Warhorse Ranch along the Smith Creek corridor that focuses on ecological restoration, agricultural productivity, and supporting the unique mental health program.

Elk Valley Ditch Diversion Improvement – Trout Unlimited

This project will include the design and work toward construction of a permanent diversion structure to replace the seasonal push-up dam for the Elk Valley irrigation ditch. The result will be improved river function and habitat conditions in this reach of the Elk River. 

Hardrock Project – Yampa Valley Stream Improvement Charitable Trust

Flywater, a river consulting and construction firm, will conduct data collection, analysis, comprehensive design and permitting of the Hardrock Project to rehabilitate a vital, severely degraded section of riverbank, and associated aquatic/riparian habitats. 

Drain Repair and Beaver Coexsistence Measures – Murphy Larsen Ranch HOA

The project will repair some agriculture infrastructure damaged by local beavers and implement beaver mitigation and coexistence measures. Completing these tasks will protect infrastructure moving forward while allowing the beavers’ presence to benefit water flow, the environment, and agricultural users downstream.

Duquette Diversion Planning Phase III – Community Agriculture Alliance

This is an important and complex project requiring several planning steps before it can be effectively implemented. This step will involve the engineering firm running the hydraulic model using the preferred design to assess the diversion and riparian restoration scale required to meet floodplain permitting requirements.