Frost Ranch Bank Stabilization Project

Project Details

  • Project Channel Length: 400 feet
  • Completion: May 2014
  • Estimated Project Cost: $150, 300 ($45,300 in District funds, $105,000 in CWCB funds)
A tranquil riverside scene featuring muddy water, grassy banks, and sparse trees under a clear blue sky.
Before photo of eroded streambank.
The image shows a sandy riverbank with protective burlap structures and people nearby, likely engaged in environmental work.
Post-restoration bank stabilization.
A riverbank scene with flowing water, grass, and trees, featuring erosion control fabric along the bank.
Photo of site psot-restoration, looking downstream.
A winding river bordered by grassy banks and sparse trees under a clear blue sky, suggesting a serene natural landscape.
Photo of site psot-restoration, looking upstream.
The image shows a riverbank with water and vegetation, featuring erosion control materials along the edge.
Riparian vegetation establishing on restored streambanks.
A tranquil riverside scene featuring muddy water, grassy banks, and sparse trees under a clear blue sky.
The image shows a sandy riverbank with protective burlap structures and people nearby, likely engaged in environmental work.
A riverbank scene with flowing water, grass, and trees, featuring erosion control fabric along the bank.
A winding river bordered by grassy banks and sparse trees under a clear blue sky, suggesting a serene natural landscape.
The image shows a riverbank with water and vegetation, featuring erosion control materials along the edge.

Project Summary

The Project site is located at 17825 Hanover Road, Fountain, CO, 80817 in southern El Paso County approximately 1.0 mile east of Interstate 25 and 0.3 miles south of Hanover Road on the Frost Ranch. The Project lies along an eroding bendway where Fountain Creek migrated into a bank with little riparian vegetation, which led to accelerated soil erosion.  Over the years, the bank erosion caused property loss and increased sediment supply.  Eliminating erosion along the bank protects viable agricultural land, reduces sediment supply downstream, and improves both terrestrial and aquatic habitat.

The lack of vegetation along approximately 400 feet of the bank allowed the soil to be readily removed during high flow events.  Consequently, the landowner experienced flood damage and bank erosion that caused loss of property, damage to fences, loss of productivity, and loss of habitat and vegetation.  Since 1999, the bank has migrated as much as 70 feet at one point.

As a result of the bank erosion, the creek became over widened from the stable Fountain Creek reference width of about 160 feet to more than 200 feet.  Near the lower end of the Project, the bank “scalloped” out and created severe secondary currents (eddy) that would have aggravated future erosion.  Using an estimate of erosion based on a bank erosion hazard index and near bank stress, it was predicted that routine (non-flood) erosion increased from about 0.1 tons/foot/year to nearly 1 tons/foot/year.  Along the 400-foot Project reach that equates to an increase from 40 tons/year to 400 tons/year, or a ten-fold increase.  The over widening and increased sediment supply caused downstream deposition which, if allowed to continue, would in-turn aggravate bank erosion.

Why this Project?
This reach of Fountain Creek had reached a tipping point. The ten-fold increase in routine erosion from 40 to 400 tons per year was not just a local bank failure; it was actively destabilizing the creek's geometry and accelerating sediment delivery downstream. The over-widened channel and the scalloped bank were creating feedback loops where increased sediment from this site was depositing downstream and raising streambed levels and redirecting flows against other vulnerable banks. If FCWD did not take action, the eroison problem would have compunded downstream.  

Thus, the project was not merely a repair but a pre-emptive intervention to break the feedback loop. The project had a high return on investment as it protected a productive agrocultural operation from ongoing land loss, reduced the annual sediment load, and re-established the riparian cover that had been completely absent. Moreover, by restoring the bank to a stable alignment with appropriate vegetation, the project eliminates the need for repeated, costlier emergency repaires after future floods- a proactive solution that secures both the landowner's livelihood and the long-term health of Fountain Creek.