Members of Longmont’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday to contribute $134,004 for Calwood Fire restoration efforts through contracted services with The Left Hand Watershed.
Tuesday marked the City Council’s return to remote meetings, due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
During the virtual meeting, Jessie Olson, executive director of the Left Hand Watershed Center, talked about how the watershed restoration nonprofit organization has helped lead post-fire recovery efforts. This includes the creation of the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership — a coalition of natural resources scientists, community organizations and land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service.
“Our work is not over; in fact this is the most critical time, in my experience, for us to be actually taking a closer eye at efforts and really putting in effort to monitor and be able to install additional erosion control features and do additional seeding and weed control,” Olson said, “to make sure we have a successful recovery following the fire.”
The Calwood Fire is the largest wildfire in Boulder County history. It sparked Oct. 17 last year, near the Calwood Education Center outside Jamestown, and was contained Nov. 14. It burned roughly 10,105 acres, destroyed 20 homes and damaged a total of 27 properties.
Longmont’s Water Board unanimously recommended that city leaders approve the services contract, according to Council communications detailing background on the resolution. The communications said “recovery from this fire is especially important,” with the blaze damaging both the Left Hand and South St. Vrain watersheds, which both drain into Longmont. The South St. Vrain provides raw water supplies to the city’s water treatment plants, according to the communications.
The county earlier this year began placing mulch on areas damaged by the fire in an effort to mitigate soil erosion and the potential for flooding during the wet spring season.
High-intensity burns result in hydrophobic soil, meaning the land doesn’t absorb water, Olson explained during her presentation. This can lead to black water ash runoff events. Boulder County saw this very thing in spring when runoff from the burn scar flowed into the South St. Vrain Creek, turning the water black.
The city’s agreement contract, which was shared with Tuesday’s agenda, said restoration services will include efforts to reduce sediment transportation from the burned areas to places downstream of the fire, including Longmont; projects to restore burned areas and improve watershed quality, as well as education for residents and landowners.
“I’m happy that Longmont is going to be part of this,” said Mayor Joan Peck.
The city’s funding will match the St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District. The county has contributed $1.3 million to the effort, according to Council communications. Overall, the current recovery effort is approximated to cost about $6.4 million.
“In this context, you can see that the contribution from the city of Longmont is leveraged many times over to accomplish what is needed for the watershed and improve the health of the forest, the community and protect our water supplies,” Olson said.
