Do you have an over-loved river in your Colorado town? Help is on the way.

If a river running through your town is overused and underloved, it might be in line for a first-of-its kind statewide restoration program, designed to assess and improve a river’s health, its recreational assets and its safety.

In March, Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Water Conservation Board approved a combined $417,000 in seed money to launch the program, according to Emily Olsen, regional vice president of Trout Unlimited. The fish advocacy group is helping lead the initiative, known as Colorado Rivermap, along with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The project will launch this year with the selection of a technical team to identify the river segments that are most in need of help, according to Doug Vilsack, Colorado state director for the BLM.

“This is getting the big thinkers together and using the seed funding to see which reaches of rivers need our attention and how much funding we will need,” Vilsack said.

This Fresh Water News story is a collaboration between The Colorado Sun and Water Education Colorado. It also appears at wateredco.org/fresh-water-news.

They’ll be looking for parks and river access points that are rundown and need of repair and restoration. They’re on the hunt for stretches of river that have no access points, and those that have been used so heavily that streambanks are eroding. 

Once the inventory is complete, the mapping group will turn to advocacy groups and agencies like GoCo to ask for funding to make the improvements.

Colorado Rivermap has received letters of support from several local governments and counties, including Chaffee and Grand counties. And Olsen said local communities that want to be involved will be key to making sure there is main-street involvement in the work.

“We are going to think hard about where we can add value and find things local communities can support,” she said.

Other backers that will provide funding for the initiative include the Foundation for America’s Public Lands, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and American Whitewater, Olsen said. 

Colorado is known for its scenic waterways and is home to eight major river basins, from the South Platte on the Front Range, to the Yampa River Basin in the northwestern corner of the state, to the headwaters of the Colorado River, in Grand County.

The rivers help lure millions of tourists to the state, intent on rafting and fishing in their waters and camping along their shores.

In 2023 the state saw record-high visits, with tourist numbers hitting 93.3 million and visitors spending $28.3 billion, according to reports by visitor research firm Longwoods International.  

But the state’s soaring popularity has also begun to wear on its iconic streams. The waterways, Vilsack said, “will be in tougher shape if we don’t do this.”

The initial survey of the rivers comes as Colorado launches a statewide recreation strategy, said Chris Yuan-Farrell, programs director for Great Outdoors Colorado.

“We are planning what we need for outdoor recreation, habitat and natural resources health. Rivers are obviously a big component of this,” Yuan-Ferrell said.

Initial steps include formation of the technical and mapping team. Olsen said they also plan to dramatically expand the team to include state and federal governments and private businesses with a stake in Colorado’s recreation economy. Vilsack said they expect this work to be completed within two years. 

Anyone interested in the project can contact Olsen at emily.olsen@tu.org.