The District's work, through a collaborative effort between many organizations, focuses on protecting, preserving and enhancing our waterways for the benefit of citizens and our natural habitat throughout the region for today and future generations. We care about clean and safe waterways, water quality, and enhancing the ability to fish and recreate in our waterways for improved quality of life for all.
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Fountain Creek Chronicles
January 2020
You are receiving this enewsletter because you have expressed an interest in the Fountain Creek Watershed or Creek Week cleanup.
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18,071 New Trees To Be Planted
Trees benefit our watershed in numerous ways. They provide shade and beauty, help control air pollution and are beneficial to wildlife. Did you know that tree roots can help absorb stormwater runoff, reducing flash flooding risks? Trees and roots also lessen erosion and pollution carried into our waterways by heavy rains. The right trees planted in the right place will greatly benefit the Fountain Creek Watershed!
As we get ready to celebrate the City of Colorado Springs’ 150
th
anniversary, it’s exciting to reflect on the wonderful gifts that our city’s founder, General William Jackson Palmer, bestowed on us. This includes more than 2,000 acres of incredible parkland which, 148 years later, still includes some of the most sweeping, majestic views in the world. Examples of parkland gifts from Palmer include Alamo, Acacia, Antlers, Monument Valley and Palmer Park.
Another of Palmer’s amazing legacies to our community is our tree-lined city. When he founded our city in 1871, it was a nearly treeless, arid plain. Palmer changed that by planting thousands of trees throughout the city. To celebrate the 150
th
anniversary in 2021 and carry on Palmer’s vision of a tree-lined city, the City of Colorado Springs is challenging the community to help plant 18, 071 new trees over the next two years.
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Meet Some of Our Riparian Residents
Let’s say you’re biking or walking along Fountain Creek and you see a wet, whiskered critter swimming along. “Hmm,” you wonder, “Is it a baby beaver?”
You might be surprised to learn what it really is!
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If you think a “creek is a creek,” think again!
Discover 7 creek ecosystems in the Fountain Creek Corridor.
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“The Fountain Creek corridor is a tremendous asset for Colorado with extensive native flora and fauna. The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District has been working tirelessly for more than a decade to preserve, protect and enhance this natural resource for all. THK Associates is very appreciative to have the opportunity to assist the District with their many stewardship efforts along Fountain Creek.”
Kevin Shanks
THK Associates
Principal, Director of Planning and Landscape Architecture
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UCCS Values Relationship with Fountain Creek District
Contributed by: Kimberly Reeves, UCCS
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More than 100 volunteers from the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (UCCS) participated in Colorado Springs’ sixth annual Creek Week, working to clear the Templeton Gap Floodway of 40 bags of trash, one and a half grocery carts, and a bicycle wheel.
The District’s Creek Week events raise awareness about the Fountain Creek watershed, by educating volunteers about Colorado’s waterways while clearing litter and debris from the 75-mile long Fountain Creek and 927 square-mile watershed that drains into the Arkansas River. UCCS’ Office of Sustainability has championed efforts to promote events on and around campus since the inaugural event in 2014.
This collaborative effort of private companies, city and county organizations, and non-profits has broadened the reach for our campus community by using resources from all partners to ensure we are communicating the same message to our circles of influence. The connection for students to volunteer through opportunities that support our surrounding community allows them to strengthen their civic engagement and development as world citizens. Creek Week provides a platform to talk about the bigger picture of community members across our watershed from Palmer Lake to Pueblo, which is all supporting healthy waterways through volunteerism.
The past two years, Creek Week has increased its efforts from volunteer clean-up events to involve citizen scientist opportunities, which engaged faculty from UCCS to incorporate these opportunities into their courses. This ability to use the surrounding ecosystem as a place to conduct research benefits our students in not only experiential learning, but also the City of Colorado Springs because our students are investing their time to strengthen our community.
The UCCS community asks for Creek Week dates year-round. It has become a positive expectation that our universities invest in our broader community and provides opportunities to make an impact one clean-up at a time.
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12-Week Regional Stormwater Advertising Campaign
The City of Colorado Springs Stormwater Enterprise group recently ran a 12-week campaign including, billboards, television, radio, and bus ads that gained more than +10 million impressions. The goal of the campaign was to change people’s habits that affect our water in negative ways. “The goal of the campaign is for people to see and hear this information in a variety of formats. These reminders encourage citizens to take action,” said Jerry Cordova, Colorado Springs Stormwater/Water Resource Engineering.
The Colorado Stormwater Council (CSC) Public Service Announcements were awarded 1
st
place for the “Improving Water Quality – Campaign” at the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies 2019 Conference.
View the PSA’s here:
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UPCOMING MEETINGS
There are several opportunities to meet with Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District Committees each month. The public is welcome to attend
.
All meetings take place at the Fountain City Hall, 116 South Main Street in Fountain.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC): 1 p.m., first Wednesday of each month.
(TAC - technical experts appointed by the District Board to provide recommendations regarding public policy or expenditure of funds for the benefit of the watershed and to carry on technical and other investigations of all kinds.)
The Citizen’s Advisory Group (CAG): 9:30 a.m., second Friday of each month.
The District Board: 2 p.m., fourth Friday of each month.
The District Board consists of representatives from Pueblo County, El Paso County, City of Pueblo, City of Colorado Springs, City of Fountain, and others as defined by statute
A Monetary Mitigation Fund meeting to discuss and prioritize mitigation projects by the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District: 10 a.m. -noon, third Tuesday each month at Public Works, 33601 East United Avenue in Pueblo.
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The District is governed by nine directors who serve two-year terms on the Board.
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- Board Chair, Longinos Gonzalez Jr., El Paso County Commissioner
- Terry Hart, Pueblo County Commissioner
- Greg Lauer, City Council Member-at- Large, City of Fountain
- Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Fortuin, City of Manitou Springs Ward 2 representing Small Municipalities
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- Richard Skorman, City Council President, City of Colorado Springs
- Larry Atencio, City Council District 2 City of Pueblo
- Leroy Mauch, Lower Arkansas Valley Conservancy District
- Jane Rhodes, Pueblo County Citizen-at-large
- Irene Kornelly, District Citizens Advisory Group
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