El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Graham Thompson, Preston Manning, Richard Mulledy, Ben Kaiser, Wilson Wheeler

4/4/14 – present

Following the floods September 2013 and on behalf of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District, Matrix Design Group prepared an application for the Colorado Watershed Restoration Program Special Release October 2013 being offered by the Colorado Water Conservation Board.  Grant funding was sought to bring various municipal and regional stakeholders together in a coordinated effort to address recent flooding impacts and provide flood restoration master planning along reaches in the Upper Fountain Creek and Cheyenne Creek watersheds following the flood events that occurred in the summer of 2013. This work will assess impacts to the stream corridors and develop conceptual plans for mitigation of flooding and sedimentation, and restoration of the corridors. The effects of flooding, erosion, and sedimentation in the Upper Fountain Creek watershed has received attention during the past two years as a result of significant effects on the watershed since the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012.  The grant was awarded in the amount of $437,500 of which $87,500 is for in-kind services provided by stakeholders.

The project was begun in April of 2014 with the cooperation of the stakeholders that include the City of Colorado Springs, City of Manitou Springs, El Paso County, Teller County, Colorado Springs Utilities, the Coalition for the Upper South Platte, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments and the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

The goal of the master planning effort is to define the extent of flooding related effects in two impacted watersheds in the Fountain Creek watershed and provide alternative and conceptual design for restoration and mitigation projects.  The watersheds, Upper Fountain Creek and Cheyenne Creek, have suffered a wide range of flooding related problems that cross-regional jurisdictions and so a coalition of local government agencies and utilities are involved in the project.  The planning process is a public process and extensive effort is being made to incorporate the concerns and expectations of the residents in the affected areas.