CIMARRON RIVER AND LOWER UNCOMPAHGRE WATERSHED PROJECT - Colorado
Year Awarded: 2020
Colorado Counties: Montrose and Gunnison
Lead Federal Agency: USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
Cooperating Agencies
USDA - Forest Service
USDOI - Bureau of Land Management
USDOI - Bureau of Reclamation
USDOI - National Park Service
Local Project Sponsors
Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District
Cimarron Canal and Reservoir Company
Trout Unlimited
Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association
Project Description
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), with the project sponsors, the Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District (BPWCD), Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association (UVWUA), Cimarron Canal and Reservoir Company (CC&RC), and Trout Unlimited (TU) is proposing to partially fund through the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (Public Law [PL] 83-566), the Cimarron River and Lower Uncompahgre (CR-LU) Watershed Project (Project) in Montrose and Gunnison counties, Colorado.
The purpose of the Proposed Project is to improve agricultural water management within the project area and is needed to address water losses associated with irrigation seepage, salinity and selenium loading, irrigation water management and delivery efficiency, and protect fish habitat and recreational opportunities through agriculture water management.
Proposed project measures include piping portions of the Cimarron Canal (Wells Basin-1.63 mi. and Coal Hill-1.17 mi.), Vernal Mesa Canal (Slide Point-0.92 mi.), East Lateral (4.26 mi.), and West Lateral (3.99 mi.); lining the Montrose & Delta (M&D) Canal (14.2 ac.) and stabilizing the adjacent hillside; and, installing a temperature sensor on the Cimarron River. The current estimate of project installation cost is $25,178,000, of which about $19,640,000 would be paid by the USDA-NRCS Public Law 83-566 funds.
An electronic version of the Watershed Plan and Environmental Assessment (Plan-EA) can be viewed or downloaded using the “Project Documents” links provided below.
Project Location Map
NEPA Analysis
The NRCS, as the lead federal agency, has initiated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis in the form of a Plan-EA to analyze impacts to the environment from this project. The Plan-EA will comply with the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations at 40 CFR 1500-1508, which require an evaluation of potential environmental impacts associated with federal projects and actions.
Current Status
The project is in the public and agency review phase and interested parties are invited to provide comments on the project and Draft Plan-EA during the comment period. A combined in-person and virtual public meeting will be held to describe the alternatives analyzed and potential impacts to the environment.
Comment Period
Opens: May 6, 2025, and Closes: June 4, 2025
Public Meeting Information*
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM (presentation will begin promptly at 5:40 PM)
Location:
Montrose Regional Library District
320 South 2nd Street, Montrose, Colorado 81401
Virtual Attendees. To join the meeting online, please use the following link at the designated meeting time:
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://www.bit.ly/BostwickParkEA
or
https://jubengineers.zoom.us/j/81862269588?pwd=gS1nrVzNKFxGAU0i4Vz3AtGoa7j8pE.1
Telephone Attendees. To join the meeting by telephone, use the following information:
Telephone No.: (719) 359-4850 or (346) 248-7799
Meeting ID: 818 6226 9588
Passcode: 764239
*Persons with disabilities who require accommodations to participate in this meeting should contact Scott Morton, Disability SEPM, at scott.morton@usda.gov or [801/524-4596] or dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunication relay services.
Las personas con discapacidad que requieran acomodo para participar en esta reunion deben comunicarse con Scott Morton, Disability SEPM, a scott.morton@usda.gov o al [801/524-4596], o marcar el 7-1-1 para acceder a las servicios de retransmision de telecomunicacion.
Comments on the Draft Plan-EA and appendices can be submitted during the public meeting or anytime during the comment period starting May 6, 2025, and closing June 4, 2025. Comments must be received by June 4, 2025, to become part of the public record.
Comments may be emailed or mailed to the address below or hand delivered to the Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District office.
Email: BostwickParkEA@jub.com
Phone: (970) 438-4749
Mail:
Cimarron River-Lower Uncompahgre Watershed Plan
Attn: The Langdon Group
Post Office Box 1161
Palisade, CO 81526
Hand Deliver:
Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District
400 South 3rd Street
Montrose, CO 81401
An electronic version of the Plan-EA can be viewed or downloaded using the “Project Documents” links provided below. A printed copy of the Draft Plan-EA can be viewed at the Montrose Regional Library District, 320 S. 2nd St., Montrose, CO 81401.
Contact Information
For further project information, please contact:
Blongshia Lindsay
USDA NRCS - Colorado State Office
Post Office Box 25426
Denver, CO 80225-0426
Phone: (719) 600-4710
Email: blongshia.lindsay@usda.gov
WFPO Resources
Watershed and Flood Prevention Act
Program governance - Public Law 83-566
Success Stories
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National Water Management Center
Bringing the landscape together: Local community goals and watershed scale planning solutions. The National Water Management Center (NWMC), located in Little Rock, Arkansas, serves as a focal point for water resources information exchange.
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Contact your local service center to start your application.
How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
To get started with NRCS, we recommend you stop by your local NRCS field office. We’ll discuss your vision for your land.
NRCS provides landowners with free technical assistance, or advice, for their land. Common technical assistance includes: resource assessment, practice design and resource monitoring. Your conservation planner will help you determine if financial assistance is right for you.
We’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance, we’ll work with you:
- To fill out an AD 1026, which ensures a conservation plan is in place before lands with highly erodible soils are farmed. It also ensures that identified wetland areas are protected.
- To meet other eligibility certifications.
Once complete, we’ll work with you on the application, or CPA 1200.
Applications for most programs are accepted on a continuous basis, but they’re considered for funding in different ranking periods. Be sure to ask your local NRCS district conservationist about the deadline for the ranking period to ensure you turn in your application in time.
As part of the application process, we’ll check to see if you are eligible. To do this, you’ll need to bring:
- An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID)
- A property deed or lease agreement to show you have control of the property; and
- A farm number.
If you don’t have a farm number, you can get one from USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Typically, the local FSA office is located in the same building as the local NRCS office. You only need a farm number if you’re interested in financial assistance.
NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants. View Application Ranking Dates by State.
If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done.
Once you sign the contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications.