With funding provided by BEF’s Water Restoration Certificate® program and other partners, the Colorado Water Trust initiated a water leasing agreement to help boost local stream flows in St. Louis Creek and the Fraser River at a time when a significant portion of the river’s water is either diverted to the Denver metro area or used for irrigation in the Fraser River valley. Winter Park Ranch agreed to curtail their water diversions just in time to supplement St. Louis Creek and the Fraser River as high summer temperatures and dwindling snowpack typically cause flows to drop. The project allows Winter Park Ranch to restore flows and protect them in the river during low flow conditions in select years over a ten-year period.

Project Results

In 2013, the project succeeded in restoring over 25 million gallons of water to the lower end of St. Louis Creek, adding cold, clean water to the Fraser.