The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the West, and it all begins in Grand County!
But, we demand a lot of our river, from recreation, wildlife and agriculture, to our drinking water. As the headwaters of the Colorado River, it is incumbent upon the Grand County community to be the leader in the conversation for how to become stewards of the river.
In April 2019, a team of professionals representing water districts, towns, and county government attended a Sonoran Institute “Growing Water Smart Workshop” in Keystone. The team walked away with an action plan to create a Drought Management Plan. Over the course of 8 facilitated meetings, a stakeholder group including representatives from the towns and water districts, stock growers, county government, fire protection districts, recreation districts, Trout Unlimited, private commercial ranches, homeowner’s associations, and Northwest Colorado Council of Governments met to hash out the elements of what came to be known as the Drought Preparedness Plan.
In August 2021, the Stakeholder group has formalized how it operates, and developed a memorandum of understanding. We are excited for this next step as Grand County's most comprehensive and collaborative drought program.