Chapter 2 A LOOK BACK AT THE FIRES THAT BURNED: RECOLLECTIONS IN THE AFTERMATH OF COLORADO'S EAST TROUBLESOME FIRE

• Jurisdiction: United States

Water Law Institute
Chapter 2

[Page 2-1]

A LOOK BACK AT THE FIRES THAT BURNED: RECOLLECTIONS IN THE AFTERMATH OF COLORADO'S EAST TROUBLESOME FIRE
Peggy E. Montaño Trout Raley Denver, CO Esther Vincent Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Northern Water) Berthoud, CO

PEGGY E. MONTANO is a shareholder with the Denver law firm of Trout Raley Montaño Freeman Sinor Thompson P.C. Her practice specializes in state and federal court litigation, and federal administrative and legislative strategy. Ms. Montaño has practiced over 35 years including defense against massive federal water right claims by the U.S. Forest Service, numerous water rights adjudications, interstate water issues including compact issues, and water-related administrative and federal and state legislative matters. She spent three years representing the State of Colorado as an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Department of Natural Resources and principally represented the Colorado State Engineer and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. She is General Counsel to the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Ms. Montaño has practiced water and environmental law in private practice since leaving the Attorney General's Office.

ESTHER VINCENT completed her master's degree in civil engineering in 1999 from the Grenoble Institute of Technology in France. She is a registered professional engineer in Colorado and has been with Northern Water since 1999. Vincent has experience with water quality, watershed management, water supply planning, environmental permitting and regulations, and water conservation. Recently, she has been leading Northern Water's post-fire watershed restoration efforts in the wake of the 2020 East Troublesome Fire. She oversees Northern Water's water quality, water efficiency and flow monitoring programs, environmental compliance and environmental data management systems. She has served on the boards of the Grand County Water Information Network, the Big Thompson Watershed Forum and the Colorado WaterWise Council, and is an alumna of the WEco Water Leaders program. She was born and grew up in Paris, France and went to college in the French Alps where she became an avid skier. Vincent enjoys being outdoors with her family and likes to spend her free time playing in Colorado's beautiful backcountry.

In September of 2020 both lightning-sparked and human-caused Colorado wildfires exploded in and above the water collection system for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (CB-T) and other watersheds for several of Colorado's major cities including Fort Collins and Greeley.¹ The water supply from the forest for over a million people and thousands of acres of agriculture was rapidly burning out of control. The East Troublesome Fire ignited high in the Rocky Mountains on October 14 and grew exponentially driven by fierce winds.² The fire marched swiftly eastward overnight and crossed the continental divide at over 12,000 thousand feet and came within miles of joining with another major fire, the Cameron Peak Fire in the Cache la Poudre River watershed.³ Together they burned nearly 400 thousand acres on public and private lands on both sides of the continental divide. Much of the burned terrain is in the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest.

Wildfire immediately affects the landscape by removing vegetation, depositing ash, and the soil becomes water repellent. Left unabated there would be more erosion through sheet flow of summer rains and increased sediment, debris, and landslides. Homes and business below the burn area but above the CB-T reservoirs could be severely impacted or destroyed. All of this damage would occur above the reservoirs and canals of the CB-T water collection system and the reservoirs and canals could fill with rocks, ash, sediment, and debris. We were told the disturbance is typically three to four years with some effects up to 30 years. In addition, the area roads which provide access to operate the system could be blocked or washed away leaving Northern Water personnel unable to reach the operations center.

This discussion will provide a one-year look back at the fire recovery actions from the viewpoint of two water professionals, one water attorney and one senior executive, as we sought to muster federal, state, and local resources to respond to the effects of the fire. Our goal was to do whatever was possible to restore and protect the watershed as quickly as possible. Within this discussion we will share thoughts to relate our experience.

Thought: There are so many governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and people to contact and we are in the midst of the COVID pandemic lock down so we can't hold a stakeholder meeting. Someone must organize this effort by phone, email, and video conferencing. It's going to be messy.

Getting Organized

[Page 2-2]

In late October of 2020 the fires were finally extinguished by a storm, which dumped 11 to 18 inches of snow on the burn area.⁴ The crews of numerous water systems had worked continuously for weeks to keep the water systems protected and running. The immediate concern was the condition of the uplands which drain into three lakes, Granby, Shadow Mountain, and Grand Lake, which are the heart of the CB-T collection system on the west slope of the continental divide. Images of thousands of acres of burnt trees were in the daily media reports.

Esther Vincent, Director of Environmental Services, began by reaching out to area...