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Eagle River

Home1 / Water Planning2 / Colorado Basin Implementation Plan3 / Eagle River / Events4
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Eagle River Implementation Plan

Developed as part of the Colorado Basin Implementation Plan, which in turn contributed to Colorado’s statewide Water Plan.

The Eagle River Region is located in Eagle County and encompasses the Eagle River watershed which includes the Eagle River, Gore Creek, Homestake Creek, Brush Creek and Gypsum Creek, (to name a few of the main tributaries). Like many headwater regions, residents and communities in this region place a high priority on the economic, recreational, and natural values associated with the its streams and rivers. Healthy, functioning streams best support these common values. Continuing the work to support and promote the environmental and recreational needs will best maintain healthy, functioning streams (ERWC, 2014). The economy of this region, , is very much dependent upon tourism and recreation industries. Eagle County is home to the Vail, Beaver Creek and Arrowhead Ski Areas. Healthy environments within the watershed are vital for maintaining this recreation based economy. Development focus has shifted from the upper valley resorts to lower valley towns. Eight hundred homes in the proposed Haymeadow area of Eagle, 700,000 square feet of retail and 550 homes in the proposed Eagle River Station, and almost 600 new residential units at Village of Wolcott offer challenges for water providers in managing water resources and providing for healthy stream communities (ERWC, 2014).

The proposed Wolcott Reservoir, a contested project among Basin regions, could allow Existing TMDs to increase diversions out of Grand and Summit Counties by providing augmentation releases to satisfy the Shoshone and Cameo calls. Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD) and Upper Eagle River Water Authority (UERWA) are in favor of the reservoir but implementation plans by Denver Water for the reservoir has yet to be seen and opposition by other Colorado regions needs to be overcome.

The Columbine, Ewing & Wurtz Ditches and the Homestake Tunnel divert water out of the Eagle River watershed to the Arkansas River Basin. The ERWSD has and continues to collaborate with water providers on the Front Range as participants in the Eagle River Memorandum of Understanding (ERMOU) and the CRCA agreements. The objective of the ERMOU was to develop a joint use water project that meets the water requirements of the participants, minimizes the environmental impact, is technically feasible, and cost effective. The ERMOU was first established in 1998 to develop 30,000 AF of storage in the upper Eagle River that would be shared; 20,000 AF for Colorado Springs and Aurora, 10,000 AF for the Vail Consortium which includes ERWSD, URWA and the Vail Associates.

Colorado Water Plan

View Plan

ERWSD is the second largest water provider in the Colorado Basin and in Western Colorado. The ERWSD operates the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority through contract and has since the Authority was created in 1984. The service area extends from east Vail to Wolcott and includes Vail, Minturn, Eagle-Vail, Avon, Arrowhead, Beaver Creek, Edwards, Cordillera, and many other outlying developed areas. The ERWSD and UERWA serve approximately 60,000 people during the peak season and have the most complex water system in Colorado consisting of: 3 water plants, 17 wells, 73 pressure zones, and 270 miles of water mains with over 3,000 feet of elevation change. The ERWSD uses the Eagle River, Gore Creek, and their aquifers as direct supplies supported by minimal storage in Black Lakes, Eagle Park Reservoir and Homestake Reservoir. The ERWSD is a good example of the positive benefits of consolidation of multiple water systems into one regional system. The consolidated management of the ERWSD has allowed for cooperation and strong coalitions with municipalities and the ski industry through Vail Resorts and Eagle County. This cooperation has resulted in a well-managed efficient umbrella agency that could serve as a model for many other competing water systems throughout the Colorado Basin that not only supplies drinking water but provides environmental flows.

Several municipal governments including the Town of Vail, Town of Avon, and Town of Eagle continue to initiate proactive programs to address the existing water quality impairment issues, allocating significant financial resources and personnel time on research, stormwater improvements, land planning, and community outreach. Eagle County government supports progressive land use codes and continues to invest heavily in recreational access and stream-related amenities that support the recreation-based economy. In Gypsum’s planning documents, the Town’s goals include continuously providing adequate high quality water for service to its citizens for potable and business needs. Other Town goals include ensuring that minimum instream flows are met, and local river habitat is protected and improved. As part of all development approvals, the Town requires new developments to dedicate water to the Town to cover new uses (Kropf, 2014). The Town of Eagle’s water planning efforts are an excellent example of collaboration and long range planning. With the construction of the Lower Basin Water Treatment Plant, the Town of Eagle will have redundant supply and treatment from three different sources, Upper Brush Creek, Lower Brush Creek and the Eagle River. The Town of Eagle has strategically planned water management in Brush Creek by cooperating with new developments and agricultural communities.

Examples of other efforts to support the environmental and recreational needs within this region include the Gore Creek Water Quality Improvement Plan, the Camp Hale-Eagle River Headwaters Collaborative Restoration Implementation Plan and the NWCCOG 208 WQ Management Plans. Additionally the Eagle River Watershed Plan outlines several needs and projects that will restore and maintain healthy rivers, streams and ecosystems in the Eagle River Region. The Eagle River Watershed Plan, updated in 2013, provides consensus-based, stakeholder developed guidance for the entire Eagle River Basin. The purpose of this plan is to ensure water related values are protected and enhanced not only in the face of out-of-basin pressures, but especially in relation to in-basin growth (ERWC, 2014). Overall, the water providers and community within the Eagle River Region support storage on the Eagle River for Eagle River users and purposes, more likely on a smaller scale. Local control for land use planning and water use is an important water management tool for most municipalities and water providers.

Colorado Basin Implementation Plan

View Plan

Region Themes

Eagle River Region


Consumptive Uses

Eagle River Region


Environmental & Recreational Conditions

Themes and
Supporting Vulnerabilities
MethodsIdentified Projects
Protect and Restore Healthy Streams, Rivers, Lakes and Riparian Areas

  • Aquatic environmental habitat degradation
  • Unmet instream/nonconsumptive flows
  • Impacts to tourism and recreation economies1
  • Impacts by existing and potential additional transmountain and in-basin diversions
  • Eagle River MOU
  • CRCA
  • Utilize local government land use authority to protect stream health
  • Evaluate and uphold instream flow levels
  • 2013 Eagle River Watershed Plan
  • Tourism and recreation economy1 needs and funding opportunities
  • Regional Section 208 Water Quality Management Plan
  • Eagle River MOU listed projects
  • Gore Creek Water Quality Improvement Plan
  • Abrams Creek Cutthroat Trout Improvements
  • CRCA identified projects
  • Water provider conservation projects
  • Eagle Mine Reclamation
  • Camp Hale Restoration
  • Re-evaluating existing ISFs
  • Quantifying recreational needs in lower-valley communities
  • Thorough examination of all new major diversions and storage projects for impacts to water quality and quantity
Sustain Agriculture

  • Reduced agriculture irrigated acres
  • Use suggestions presented in the Agriculture Toolbox2,3,4
  • Continued use and policies to protect senior water rights in a Prior
  • Appropriation system, particularly those rights senior to 1922 Colorado River Compact
  • Town planning documents support continued agricultural land use
  • Gypsum’s L.E.D.E. Reservoir
Secure Safe Drinking Water

  • Source watershed degradation
  • Extended drought
  • Coordinate with conservation districts and Upper Colorado to identify source watershed protection projects
  • Eagle River MOU
  • Implement ERW&SD Fire preparedness plan
  • Implement Community Wildfire Protection Plan
  • Eagle River MOU listed projects
  • Eagle Park Reservoir Enlargement
  • Red Cliff Project (Iron Mountain)
  • Eagle Mine Reclamation
Develop Local Water Conscious Land Use Strategies

  • Growth development impacting water supplies and environmental needs
  • Eagle River MOU
  • Limiting development to within urban boundaries
  • Promote water conscious growth development through improved land use policies
  • Review Eagle County land use policies
  • Ensure new development appropriately incorporates water-related values
  • Water provider conservation projects
  • Implement new technologies and BMPs to mitigate urban runoff on new developments
Encourage a High Level of Basinwide Conservation

  • Municipal and agricultural waste due to state laws promoting “use it or lose it”
  • Evaluate state water policy and law for opportunities to implement effective conservation
  • Recognize the discrepancies and contradictions between the current water rights system and conservation/ nonconsumptive goals
  • Work locally to reduce calls on Gypsum Creek that dry the creek
  • Town code adoption of drought stages for reduced water use
  • Town code land use provisions includes limits on irrigation on a per lot basis
  • Agreements exist between Gypsum and the Colorado River Water Conservation District to uphold instream flows
  • Metering and increasing rate structure for higher water use encourages conservation
  • Water provider conservation projects

(The above information was extracted from the Colorado Basin Implementation Plan and edited slightly to fit)

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