Nine Basin Bulletin - Spring 2025
Hi! Welcome to our 2025 Spring Nine Basin Bulletin. We wish you a warm and wet spring! The Nine Basins Bulletin is the Southwestern Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Water Information Program (WIP) newsletter.
Spring & Early Summer Water Events
SWCD Events
04-24-2025 SWCD Special Board Meeting (Legislative Call) - CANCELED
05-01-2025 SWCD Special Board Meeting (Legislative Call) - NEW
05-15-2025 Children's Water Festival - Volunteers Needed (see below)
06-18 &19 -2025 SWCD Regular Board Meeting
Other Events
04-24-2025 Federal Cuts Impacts in Western Colorado: A Panel Discussion - Grand Junction, CO at 6 pm - To register for in-person, click here. To register for Zoom, click here.
04-24-2025 Southwest Basin Roundtable Meeting - Durango. For more information, click here.
05-07-2025 Climate Resilience Grant Program Webinar. For more information, click here.
07-3&4-2025 Water Education Colorado Southwest Tour. Members can now register! For more information, click here.
Know someone who may be interested in joining our team?
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Highlights from SWCD’s 41st Annual Seminar
The Southwestern Water Conservation District hosted its 41st Annual Water Seminar on March 28, 2025, at the Sky Ute Casino Resort on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Colorado. This year’s theme, Water Reimagined: Strategies for a Changing World, drew over 200 attendees from across the region for a day of insightful panels, keynote speakers, and lively discussion.
Please click here to view our program and all the incredible speakers and moderators.
All the presenters offered insight into the complex and evolving landscape of water in the West. If you missed this year’s seminar, not to worry—videos of each session will be available soon on our seminar page, located here.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the day—and to the many presenters, volunteers, and partners who helped make this year’s event a success.
SWCD February and April Board Meetings:
The board reappointed Directors for Dorlores, Mineral, and Montrose Counties; all sitting Directors were reelected for these counties. The newest board member, Steve Garcher, was appointed to Dolores County late in 2024. The board elected officers in February, including Charlie Smith, President, JR Ford, Vice President, and Amy Novak-Huff, Secretary/Treasurer. To learn more about our board members, please see our board of directors webpage: Our Board of Directors - Southwestern Water Conservation District. The board also considered five grant applications, all of which were approved by the board.
| Project | Applicant | Total | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lone Cone Reservoir Rehab Phase 2: Construction | Lone Cone Ditch and Reservoir Company | $19,000 | Water Supply |
| Mancos Watershed Wildfire Ready Action Plan | Mancos Conservation District | $20,000 | Public Forums |
| Tribal Water Media Fellowship Summer Intensive | Fort Lewis College | $7,000 | Education |
| Southwest Colorado Watershed Education | Mountain Studies Institute | $10,000 | Education |
| Furthering Education in the Mancos Conservation District | Mancos Conservation District | $10,000 | Education |
SWCD still has funding available for Emergency grants. If you have questions about this funding source, please contact Mo Rock (morock@swwcd.org). SWCD's grant program for 2026 will open in the late fall of 2025 and close in late winter.
SWCD recently had its April board meeting. At this board meeting, the board heard updates from partners throughout the region, some of which include:
- Southwest CWCB Director Lorelei Cloud
- USGS Stream Gauging from Kevin Murphy
- 2025 Weather Modification from Western Weather Consultants
- 2025 Snow and Avalanche School from Jeff Derry
- Bonita Peak CAG from Chara Ragland
- Facilitated Farm Model from the Colorado Water Trust
- Utah's Demand Management Pilot Program from Lily Bosworth
Southwestern Water Conservation District was also chosen to receive the Outstanding Partner Award from the Sonoran Institute.
Children's Water Festival - May 14th, 2025
Forests to Faucets Teacher Workshop - July 31 - Aug. 1, 2025
Registration Now Open
K–12 teachers—join us for a free, two-day professional development workshop that brings watershed education to life! Forests to Faucets: My Water Comes from the San Juan Mountains is an engaging opportunity for educators to to wear the “student hat”, explore local water and forest resources while learning about interactive, hands-on tools to bring place-based watershed education to students.
Presented in partnership by the Water Information Program, Mountain Studies Institute, and the San Juan Mountains Association, this workshop immerses teachers in outdoor learning, interactive classroom activities, and field-based experiences. Participants will meet local experts, explore how forest health impacts water supply, and discover resources for planning student field trips on topics like water quality and conservation.
Space is limited—register now at:
www.mountainstudies.org/foreststofaucets
Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn, network, and get inspired for the upcoming school year! See the attached flyer for more details.
Forests to Faucets Flyer - Registration Open - July 31 - Aug. 1,2025.pdf
SWCD Legislative Motions:
The Legislative Session is well underway! SWCD has motioned to Support, Monitor, and Oppose the following bills.
Support
- HJR25-1004 - Water Project Eligibility List (Projects Bill) (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1057 - American Indian Affairs Interim Committee (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1077 - Backflow Prevention Devices Requirements (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1115 - Water Supply Measurement and Forecasting Program (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1311 - Deductions for Net Sports Betting Proceeds (Motion on 04-09-25)
- HB25-1318 - Species Conservaation Trust Fund Projects(Motion on 04-09-25)
- SB25-054 - Mining Reclamation and Interstate Compact - Support as Amended (Motion on 02-13-25)
- SB25-283 - Funding Water Conservation Projects (Motion on 04-09-25)
Monitor
- HB25-1014 - Increasing Efficiency Division of Water Resources (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1099 - Water Quality Data Standards (Motion on 02-13-25)
- HB25-1323 - Division of Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation (Motion on 04-09-25)
- SB25-037- Coal Transition Grants (Motion on 02-13-25)
- SB25-061 - Federally Recognized Tribes & Construction of Laws (Motion on 02-13-25)
Oppose
- n/a
*Please see our Legislative Webpage to stay up to date on SWCD Legislative Matters: State Legislature - Southwestern Water Conservation District
Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company Emergency Grant Request 2025
As spring flows begin, we wanted to highlight an emergency grant SWCD awarded last year. The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company was awarded $50,000 to help repair the Beaver Creek Ditch after a major blowout.
News Articles & Press Releases
- The Family Farm Alliance selects new Executive Director - more information can be found here.
- San Juan National Forest Supervisor to Retire - Durango Herald 04/22/2025 - read the full article here.
- Conservation at risk with proposal to rescind Public Lands Rule - Telluride Daily 04/23/2025 - read the full article here.
- U.S. Congressman Jeff Hurd visits with Montezuma County commissioners - Durango Herald 04/22/2025 - read the full article here.
- What could future Colorado River water cuts look like? States look to this year's weak snowpack to find out - Colorado Sun 04/17/2025 - read the full article here.
Project Funding
SWCD has an annual grant program that opens in the fall and closes in the winter for the following year. The program funds grants for water supply, water planning, and water education, among other things. Be on the lookout for this opportunity or contact Mo Rock (morock@swwcd.org).
Have a project in the Southwest Basin? Is it on SWCD's Water Conservation and Infrastructure Partnership Pipeline? Contact Carrie Padgett to add your project to our pipeline and let us help you find funding! With the pipeline we can bundle like projects and pull in funds for multiple projects at at time. Learn about our partnership here: Water Conservation and Infrastructure Partnership - Southwestern Water Conservation District
Don’t Know Where to Start?
Current water project funding opportunities are a lot to take in. That’s part of why the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) hired regional water plan grant managers–to help project proponents navigate this once-in-a-generation opportunity to implement projects statewide. Contact Laura Spann (based in Durango), laura.spann@state.co.us, 720-916-7723 if you need help getting started.
Other Resources:
- Climate Resilience Grant Program - Colorado Department of Agriculture: Up to $30,000 (no match required) for individual farmers and ranchers "who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing a climate-change induced disaster to increase the resilience of their operation".
- Senator John Hickenlooper Grant Navigation Webiste
- Opportunity Navigator CWCB has compiled this database to serve as a tool for people and organizations across Colorado to navigate all available funding opportunities for water projects in a single place.
- Irrigation Infrastructure Resource Hub Have a water funding need but don’t know where to start? DARCA and the River Network teamed up to create this hub.
- Water Plan Grants The CWCB offers grants to advance the goals of the Colorado Water Plan. Adding storage? Have a multi-benefit project? Lots of project partners, collaboration? An innovative or landscape-scale project? It might fit well here. Roundtable letters of support, while not required, add value to your application. If you want their consideration, the Southwest Basin Roundtable requests a short proposal and presentation at a meeting.
- The Southwest Basins Roundtable PEPO Coordinator is applying for the annual WSRF PEPO grant for 2026. Within this $25,000 grant there is funding available to support and collaborate with organizations on public education initiatives focused on water issues in the SW Basin. The PEPO Coordinator is seeking interested organizations that may need local water education and outreach funding. If your organization is seeking partial funding to collaborate on water education initiatives, please contact Elaine Chick by May 5, 2025, to see if you would qualify, at elaine@waterinfo.org or 970-759-8818. For more information on the PEPO program and grant, please click here.
- NEW! CWP Wetland and Riparian Restoration and Enhancement Projects
Want to apply for federal water grants but don’t have the staff capacity?
- WaterSMART Program Portal This site houses Reclamation's schedule for funding through WaterSMART and Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration and opportunities for Multi-Benefit Projects to Improve Watershed Health.
- Colorado Wildlife Mitigation Funding: Here's a list of state, federal, and private funding available for a wide variety of wildfire mitigation projects, including Watershed Health.
Jobs in our District
SWCD - Accounting and Grants Coordinator
Animas Watershed Partnership - Program Coordinator
Colorado Water Trust - Water Transactions Specialist
Mountain Studies Institute - Water Program Research Associate
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - Administrative Assistant III Permit Section - 1607
Please email morock@swwcd.org if you know of any positions you'd like to share in this newsletter.