MEEKER | Standing on the banks of the White River just outside Meeker, members of the Yampa-White-Green Basin Roundtable gathered last week for a hands-on look at the region’s most pressing water issues. The field trip, part of the group’s ongoing efforts to update the White River agenda, brought together local officials, landowners, conservationists and water managers to better understand challenges facing the basin.
The morning began at the historic Blair Homestead Ranch, where participants were treated to breakfast and coffee before diving into the day’s agenda. The group caravanned out to Yellow Creek for the first presentation.
Jennifer Wellman and Joe Leonhard with The Nature Conservancy introduced low-tech, process-based stream restoration methods like beaver dam analogs and one-rock structures. These natural techniques are designed to slow water flow, trap sediment and support the recovery of stream and wetland ecosystems. The presentation included a walk-through of recent restoration efforts and discussion of how these methods could be used more widely throughout the White River basin.
Leonhard explained their efforts to work with beavers in the area.
“So beavers now are slowing this water down. The still water doesn’t have energy, so all the sediment that’s been carried from upstream is dropping and settling,” Leonhard said. “This terrace up here that’s 30 to 40 feet above us might have been historic floodplains about 120 years ago. We’re not trying to get that back.”
He continued, “What we’re seeing when we have beaver is that they’re slowing the water down, it’s spreading out laterally and just downstream we’ve got wetland vegetation or on the periphery some healthier grasses that aren’t necessarily wanting to be wet all the time. But we’ve got our dryland vegetation here — sagebrush, greasewood — and you can see it dying. It doesn’t like to be inundated; it can’t be wet for so long.”
Wellman described projects completed with the White River Alliance and Bureau of Land Management in 2023 and workshops held last year. This year, they hope to hold a workshop on Willow Creek north of Craig, near the Wyoming border.
“Well, like you note here, there’s a ton of tamarisk just downstream. Rivers Edge West, formerly the Tamarisk Coalition, removed a lot of tamarisk that would have obscured our view of this channel, so that’s a nice feature,” Wellman said.
The removed tamarisk has been used to build beaver dam analogs.
After the Yellow Creek presentation, participants traveled to Lake Avery. Representatives from the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District detailed the lake’s current state, ongoing maintenance needs, and potential infrastructure improvements including spillway repairs and possible dam modifications.
A week before the field trip, Rio Blanco County commissioners held a special work session to review concerns about the dam’s condition and discuss potential upgrades, highlighting local focus on the reservoir’s role in regional water planning.
Fifteen years ago, Yellow Jacket Conservancy District began exploring viable projects, including an augmentation plan to help in times of need. The district recently sought bids for a feasibility analysis of enlarging Lake Avery, which would create water for users and provide augmentation in the upper basin. The study is estimated to cost about $200,000.
Scott Grosscup, attorney for Yellow Jacket, told the group the reservoir’s infrastructure is aging, with concerns about deteriorating outlet works and limited capacity.
“What the Yellow Jacket Conservation District is looking to do is create a mechanism in the reservoir to make water available for storage and ultimate use by people downstream,” Grosscup said.
He added the project would likely proceed through an augmentation plan.
“The White River, as you may know, doesn’t have much water storage other than this reservoir. It holds about 7,300 acre-feet but doesn’t operate to meet all needs. Parks and Wildlife has released water for fish flows on a five- and 10-year basis, but in critical years like this one, major irrigation systems downstream put a strain on the river,” Grosscup said. “Recently, the Taylor Draw Call at Rio Blanco Lake, run by Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District, has placed a call for micro-power usage.”
Following Lake Avery, the group traveled to Agency Park for a presentation on the White River Return Flow Study. Liz Chandler with the White River Integrated Water Initiative highlighted how local irrigation practices, especially flood irrigation, play a critical role in sustaining base flows in the White River.
The study, developed with Dr. Ryan Bailey and local stakeholders, used groundwater modeling to quantify return flows.
“Without local knowledge and people willing to show us places, I don’t think we could have pulled this off to the extent that we did,” Chandler said.
She noted up to 75% of summer base flows in the study area can be attributed to return flows. The research is already informing infrastructure and water management decisions.
“We spent six to eight months looking at studies on the Yampa River and talking with locals. The most significant thing we did differently is partnering with the modeler,” Chandler said.
After the discussion, participants returned to the Meeker Firehouse for the official Basin Roundtable meeting.
To start the meeting, the board held a roll call but initially lacked quorum, delaying formal votes including approval of previous meeting minutes.
Mike Camblin reported on Colorado Water Conservation Board updates, including the historic election of Lorelei Cloud as chair — the first Indigenous person to hold the position — and Barbara Vasquez as vice chair. The board approved funding for the Stagecoach Reservoir phosphorus monitoring project and discussed ongoing legal and technical issues surrounding Shoshone Hydroelectric Plant water rights.
Funding updates included:
• Over $200,000 for phosphorus source monitoring at Stagecoach Reservoir.
• $24,000 for emergency repair reimbursement in Rangely.
• $100,000 for headgate automation on five structures, with plans for 15 total.
The CWCB’s next board meeting will include a tour of transmountain diversions. The annual Water Seminar is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Glenwood Springs.
Later, Madeline Baker with Colorado Parks and Wildlife presented the Colorado River Invasive Species Update. She reported on the ongoing concern over zebra mussels at Highline State Park in Grand Junction, first detected in Colorado in 2022.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife launched an expensive eradication effort involving partial drawdowns and use of an EPA-approved molluscicide, EarthTech QZ. Despite efforts, juvenile mussels and adults persisted, requiring complete draining of Highline Lake over several months in late 2024 into 2025, at a cost exceeding $300,000.
Containment measures include watercraft inspection and decontamination stations, such as at the Loma port of entry on Interstate 70, where dozens of mussel-contaminated boats have been intercepted. CPW is installing self-serve cleaning stations statewide and using trail cameras at boat launches to assess risk. The goal is to slow the spread and protect Colorado’s water infrastructure, aquatic habitats and recreational opportunities.
Announcements were made about upcoming events. The meeting was adjourned, with the next scheduled for Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. in Craig at Colorado Northwestern Community College.
