Projects

In addition to remediation work, CCWF now promotes and facilitates improved water quality through sustainable watershed management which integrates ecological, economic and social perspectives. In 2006, CCWF was awarded an EPA Region 8 Regional Priorities Grant to research and develop a sustainable watershed management strategy for Clear Creek Watershed. The Stakeholder and Technical Advisory Committees formed for this effort are key in refining and implementing the strategy.

Based on historical and recent stakeholder input, CCWF has developed eight categories for the roughly 60 actual and/or potential watershed-based sustainability projects which promote innovation, cooperation and cost-efficiency:

1. Orphan (Abandoned) Mine Remediation
2. Natural Resource Management
3. Water and Wastewater Management
4. Preservation and Promotion of Historic Mine Sites
5. Alternative Energy and Transportation
6. Waste Stream Reduction
7. Subsurface Rights and Uses
8. Education and Outreach

It is our goal to get these projects done by facilitating cooperative partnerships and funding. In most instances CCWF will be a partner, in some cases we will be the lead organization.

How the CCWF Prioritizes Projects

Natural and manmade systems are in fact “systems” responding to cause and effect. In order for decisions to be made in favor of sustainable practices, compelling qualitative and/or quantitative data and information must be provided to decision makers. These metrics can then be applied to the various project activities to document the spatial extent of the improvement practice.

To that end, CCWF has created a watershed-scale tool that evaluates these public and private watershed project investments on a sustainability basis by defining and surveying the latest envirometrics, econometrics and sociometrics as they relate to the Clear Creek Watershed. These data will be evaluated; i.e., given a specific value ranking. Those values will then be applied to select past projects and proposed future projects, as well as to the natural systems of the watershed. The implementation of these values in decision-making processes throughout the Clear Creek Watershed is being promoted, thereby formally initiating a sustainable watershed management approach.

This multi-attribute model has been used to prioritize the roughly 60 proposed sustainability projects based on ecological benefit/cost ratios. This tool also provides a way to measure watershed sustainability improvements. CCWF believes that promoting these (and future) projects will make Clear Creek and its communities a more sustainable watershed—as defined by the balance of ecology, economy and society.

For more information on our evaluation process, contact us.

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