Rifle Creek Restoration and Resilience Plan

Planned

The Middle Colorado Watershed Council is implementing a master plan to restore Rifle Creek, addressing challenges such as overallocation, ecological stress, aging irrigation infrastructure, salinity, natural contaminants, and climate-related threats like drought and wildfire risk. The plan covers a 6.5-mile stretch from Rifle Gap Reservoir to the Colorado River confluence and includes infrastructure upgrades, habitat restoration, and water quality monitoring. Initial projects involve improvements at Centennial Park, Deerfield Park, Re-2 School District property, Government Creek, Grand Tunnel Ditch, the golf course, and Wisdom Ditch Outtake, with activities like step pools construction, invasive species removal, and flume replacement to enhance instream flow, water quality, vegetation, agriculture, public access, and wildlife migration.