Cameron Peak, East Troublesome wildfires cause ‘unprecedented’ damage to City of Greeley watersheds

By Kelly Ragan

Greeley City Council voted to declare a local disaster emergency Tuesday in regard to the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires after learning that mitigation could cost up to $50 million.

“We know there will be severe and significant impacts that will need to be addressed for probably a decade to come,” said Sean Chambers, Water and Sewer director, at a city council meeting Tuesday. 

The two fires burned more than 402,000 acres combined, significantly impacting Greeley’s water supply and the infrastructure, Chambers said. 

“This is really unprecedented, never-before-seen damage to City of Greeley watersheds,” Chambers said. 

As it stands, there is wildfire damage in all of Greeley’s source water basins, including: 

• Poudre River 

• Big Thompson 

• Laramie River 

• Upper Colorado River (Windy Gap and Colorado Big Thompson)

The fires will impact watershed health, water quality, reservoir operations, diversion structures and treatment facility operations, according to Chambers. 

“We anticipate loss of storage capacity,” Chambers said. 

There will be an unusual buildup of sediment, ash, trees and other debris in the reservoir. Chambers said current estimates suggest there will be 10-25 times more sediment in the water. 

Ultimately, all that extra gunk in the water can drive up treatment costs. 

How will they fix it? 

Chambers said there are a couple of different tactics they’ll use to mitigate damage and disruption. 

Those solutions include sediment traps at the reservoirs, debris traps, aerial mulching and seeding to keep soil on the slope, directional tree felling to keep trees from falling in the water, erosion wattles and enhanced monitoring. 

Those are all proven solutions that worked in the aftermath of the High Park Fire, Chambers said. 

But it won’t come cheap. 

Mitigation costs could come in anywhere between $25-50 million, Chambers said. 

Where will the money come from? 

One of the unique challenges, Chambers said, is that most of the burn areas are on U.S. Forest Service property. 

That puts a kink in the funding system. 

“State and federal funding is limited, especially in the current economic climate,” Chambers said. 

In general, post fire recovery doesn’t illicit the same resources that fire response or fire fighting does,” Chambers said. 

And some funds, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service and its Emergency Watershed Protection, are usually only allowed to be used on private lands, though Greeley did get permission to use some for the reservoirs, Chambers said. 

So, Chambers said, they’re seeking congressional support to secure important funding. 

“Advocacy with the feds and this disaster emergency are an important piece to how we secure future funding to protect the watershed and protect our water quality,” Chambers said. 

In a letter, Sen. Cory Gardner, Rep. Joe Neguse, and Rep. Ken Buck petitioned U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, and Acting Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Kevin Norton, for financial assistance.  

Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Neguse also petitioned U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen for assistance from the United States Forest Services and Natural Resources Conservation Service. 

By declaring a local disaster emergency, Greeley is better able to coordinate with and receive assistance from state and federal programs, as well as coordinate with other local municipalities.