The Kawuneeche Valley Restoration Collaborative

 

The Kawuneeche Valley Restoration Collaborative (KVRC) Brings Together Agencies and Organizations Focused on Ecosystem Restoration of the Kawuneeche Valley to Support its Ecological, Economic and Community Well-being

 

Dying willows in the Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. Willow are a keystone species that support healthy beaver-willow wetland ecosystems.

NPS Photo

The Kawuneeche Valley is located where the Colorado River headwaters flow through Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and into Shadow Mountain Reservoir near the town of Grand Lake. The valley is a mosaic of public and private lands and serves diverse ecological, recreational, and economic interests. This watershed provides water resources for western slope communities downstream of the valley as well as communities on the east side of the Continental Divide via a trans-basin water diversion. The valley's wetlands have historically provided important ecosystem functions like wildlife habitat, flood control, and resistance to wildfires and drought.

 

Declines in surface water associated with beaver ponds (shown in red) have been documented in the Kawuneeche Valley since the mid-1950s.

Image Courtesy of Jeremy Shaw.

An Ecosystem Out of Balance

The Kawuneeche Valley has historically been labeled a willow-beaver wetland ecosystem characterized by beaver, high water tables, and water-loving vegetation communities dominated by tall willow. The Kawuneeche Valley ecosystem is in transition, however, having changed dramatically throughout its recent history due to human influences. Ditching and draining of wetlands to support agricultural operations, willow removal, predator removal, and wildlife management in the greater landscape have caused significant changes to vegetation, beaver populations, and hydrology.

Documented changes in the Kawuneeche Valley include:

• 77 percent loss of tall willow acreage since 1999

• 94 percent loss of surface waters associated with beaver ponds since 1953

• Incision of major tributaries (Beaver Creek, Baker Gulch, Bowen Gulch, Onahu Creek)

• Elevated nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in streamflow, relative to other local tributaries, due to land uses and erosion

• Increases in invasive, nonnative and dryland plant species at the expense of native wetland species

Today, the Kawuneeche Valley functions more like an elk-grassland ecosystem than a beaver-willow wetland ecosystem. This human-driven biome shift has only been exacerbated by the 2020 East Troublesome Fire and an increasingly arid climate.

 

Left image
The Kawuneeche Valley in 1920 was characterized by high water tables, tall willow, and widespread beaver activity.
Credit: NPS Photo

Right image
Today, the Kawuneeche Valley is characterized by incised stream channels, invasive vegetation, and minimal beaver activity.
Credit: Map Data: Google, Europa Technologies

 

A group of managers, scientists and funders during a KVRC site visit.

NPS Photo

Ecosystem Restoration: A Collaborative Approach

In 2020, KVRC was formed to address these ongoing environmental changes taking place in the valley. Comprised of several organizations and funders, KVRC is committed to using an inclusive process to develop comprehensive and ambitious restoration plans for implementation with local partners.

KVRC restoration efforts could bring numerous benefits to the region, including:

• Improving water quality

• Accommodating healthier aquatic life and habitat surrounding the river

• Creating natural wildfire lines, courtesy of renewed overbank flooding

• Strengthening the valley’s overall resiliency to climate change and

• Enhancing aesthetics and recreational value.

 

Exclosure fences protect important vegetation like willow and aspen from being browsed by ungulates like elk and moose.

NPS Photo

Proposed Projects and Methods

As part of KVRC, site-specific restoration projects will occur in the Kawuneeche Valley over several years. Four sites within RMNP have been identified as highly suitable for restoration. Other opportunities to improve ecological function and water quality also exist on private lands within the valley.

At each potential site, several restoration methods may be utilized. Some of these proposed methods include:

• Fencing to protect vegetation

• Native vegetation planting

• Exotic plant removal treatments

• In-stream simulated beaver structures to restore hydrology and water levels

• Filling or blocking abandoned ditches

• Removing human-constructed earthen levees and potentially an earthen dam

Monitoring conditions in the Kawuneeche Valley before and after restoration is an important part of evaluating the results and success of these efforts.

 

Recent Project Accomplishments

• KVRC’s pilot restoration project at Beaver Creek began in summer 2023 with the treatment of invasive plant species.
• In September 2024, construction began on ungulate exclosure fencing and new process-based restoration structures at Beaver Creek.
• Planning for future KVRC projects is underway.

 

Learn More

• KVRC Project Webpage

KVRC Participating Organizations

No one organization can achieve a healthy watershed in this region on its own; the combined resources and expertise of KVRC and its stakeholders can accomplish more through collaboration. Rocky Mountain National Park is proud to work with KVRC and its partners - those listed below and others - to achieve the long term restoration of the Kawuneeche Valley.

 

 

Explore Wetlands

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  Learn More

  Elk and Vegetation Management Plan
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  Learn More

  Beaver