Resolution 2849 - Memorandum of Understanding for the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership

Sep 16, 2026

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Council memorandum requesting City Council consideration of Resolution 2849 to authorize Golden to enter a memorandum of understanding establishing the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership among multiple cities, counties, authorities, and industry stakeholders. The background outlines watershed geography, drinking-water importance for Colorado residents, and vulnerability to catastrophic wildfire, post-wildfire flooding, and water quality impairments. The partnership will coordinate wildfire risk mitigation and forest health projects, including public outreach, a stakeholder registry, newsletters, and planned online communication and StoryMap deliverables, with no immediate fiscal impact.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose and Agenda Item

Background

Watershed scope and significance

Public Outreach Efforts

Fiscal and Community Impact

Alternatives and Recommendations

Resolution No. 2849

Council Memorandum To: The Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Public Works Director, Anne Beierle and Water Quality Lab Manager, Kerry Major Through: City Manager, Jason Slowinski Date: March 4, 2022 Re: Resolution 2849: Memorandum of Understanding Establishing the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership Purpose of Agenda Item: To consider Resolution 2849 which would authorize the city to enter into a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) between the City of Golden (“Golden”), the City of Westminster (“Westminster”), the City of Black Hawk (“Black Hawk”), the City of Arvada (“Arvada”), the City of Thornton (“Thornton”), the Town of Empire (“Empire”), Molson Coors Beverage Company (“Molson Coors”), Climax Molybdenum Company (“Climax or Henderson Mine”), Jefferson County Open Space, the County of Clear Creek (“Clear Creek”), Clear Creek Fire Authority, and the County of Gilpin (“Gilpin”), collectively referred to as “the Parties”, to establish the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership for collaboration and coordination in wildfire risk mitigation and forest health projects within the Clear Creek watershed. Background: The Clear Creek Watershed spans from its western edge at the Continental Divide to the urbanized plains outside of Denver where Clear Creek joins the South Platte River. The entire watershed covers an area of 575 square miles, with 400 square miles located in the upper watershed in the mountains west of Golden. Much of this mountainous region is covered by a patchwork of private, municipal, county, state, and federal lands. Clear Creek and its tributaries act as the primary drinking water supply for multiple towns and municipalities in addition to the City of Golden, serving nearly 350,000 Colorado residents. This forested area and the creek corridor also act as a critical area for recreation, cultural and historical values, and transportation. The Clear Creek watershed is vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire and post‐wildfire flooding and water quality impairments, debris flows, and economic impacts. Golden, wanting to identify measures the City could take to address wildfire risk for our drinking water utility, participated in an engineering study for the upper Clear Creek watershed that was completed in 2021. The Upper Clear Creek Pre-Wildfire Planning Study analyzed a suite of options to manage forests and fuels, restore and improve stream channels, assess and mitigate the Wildland‐Urban Interface (WUI), and form multiobjective partnerships around critical resources and infrastructure values. The stakeholders recognized the momentum for action the study stoked and capitalized on this to meet as a group starting in 2020. Over the past year, stakeholders have supported two forest management projects, the first around Georgetown Reservoir and the second in the Floyd Hill/Saddle Back area. In late 2021, Golden and the City of Westminster entered into an IGA to provide financial support to the creation of the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership and the Partnership has recently been awarded $25,000 through the Colorado Water Conservation Board to develop more project scopes of work for implementation. The MOU will formalize the Partnership and collaborative work in the watershed. The MOU also acts as a framework for regional collaboration to address wildfire risk and guides us to partner with other entities when and where we can to have a larger and more impactful approach mitigating collective risks. Golden relies on 100% on Clear Creek for our municipal drinking water supplies and being a signatory on this MOU will show the City’s commitment towards making the Clear Creek watershed more resilient in the face of catastrophic wildfire. Public Outreach Efforts: One of the Partnership’s near-term goals is to increase public outreach and education related to watershed health, forest health, and fuels mitigation. This is will be done through the development a

FAQs

What is Resolution 2849 intended to authorize?

Resolution 2849 would authorize the City of Golden to enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership.

Who are the participating parties in the MOU?

The MOU involves multiple cities and jurisdictions including Golden, Westminster, Black Hawk, Arvada, Thornton, Empire, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Climax Molybdenum Company, Jefferson County Open Space, Clear Creek County, Clear Creek Fire Authority, and Gilpin County.

Does signing the MOU create a fiscal impact for the city?

The memorandum states there is no fiscal impact created by signing the MOU, though participation may create future opportunities to fund forest health initiatives.

Sep 16, 2026

Upload by Connor