Watershed Wildfire Protection Group
Mission :
To promote healthy watersheds by facilitating education and awareness; and improving prioritization, implementation, and monitoring for people and wildlife.
Vision :
To protect Colorado water supplies and critical infrastructure from catastrophic wildfire and other threats by maintaining healthy, resilient watersheds through collaboration, implementation, leveraging, and education.
Summary
Established in 2007
The Watershed Wildfire Protection Group (WWPG) is a state-wide collaborative group of water providers, watershed collaboratives, non-profits, private businesses, and federal, state and local agencies in Colorado. The WWPG has been in existence for 15 years.
The initial purpose of the WWPG was to develop a consistent technical approach for analysis and prioritization of watershed hazards from wildfires and the impacts on water supply. JW Associates facilitated the WWPG during the development of a watershed prioritization process in 2007-2009. That technical approach has been implemented in more than 15 watersheds in Colorado, plus some in Wyoming and Utah. That technical approach has been recently updated. More information is below.
The WWPG was initially called the Front Range Watershed Protection Data Refinement Work Group, which was part of the Front Range Roundtable. In 2012, the group expanded to being a statewide group, changed its name to WWPG and expanded its mission.
The WWPG has maintained the watershed wildfire assessment procedure by updating it and has also completed a collaborative project that produced a Post-fire Playbook (linked below).
Stakeholder Partners
Water providers
Federal, state, and local agencies
Cities, towns, and counties
Watershed Partnerships and Organizations
Non-profits
Fire protection organizations
Recreation organizations
Private landowners
Other interested parties
WWPG Core Group
Aurora Water
Colorado Department of Health and Environment
Colorado Springs Utilities
Colorado State Forest Service
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Denver Water
Fire Adapted Colorado Network
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
The Nature Conversancy
US Forest Service
If you would like to be added to the WWPG mailing list, please fill out the contact form above or email Brad Piehl at bpiehl@jw-associates.org
Get in touch
Sign up for the WWPG mailing list and stay up to date on meetings:
Events
2026 Meetings
May 2026 In-person Meeting
Location: City of Boulder 63rd Street Water Treatment Plant
Tuesday, May 19th
10am - 2 pm
Summer 2026 Field Trip
Location: Colorado Springs field trip to North Catamount Reservoir
Wednesday, July 22nd
October 2026 In-person Meeting
Location & date TBD
10 am - 2 pm
Past Meetings
February 2025
Location: Denver Public Library
Friday, February 21st
10am - 3 pm
May 2025
Location: Denver Public Library
Friday, May 16th
10am - 3 pm
September 2025
Location: Valdez-Perry Branch Library
Friday, September 5th
10:30am - 2:30 pm
WWPG Documents & Resources
Past Events
Wildfire Ready Watersheds - WWPG Field Trip
J.W. Associates and Colorado Springs Utilities invited partners to visit North Catamount Reservoir, the location of their Wildfire Ready Action Plan, funded in partnership with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) through the Wildfire Ready Watersheds Grant Program. Colorado Springs Utilities has submitted an implementation grant through CWCB to fund multiple projects surrounding the reservoir in order to make it more resilient to wildfire and post-wildfire impacts. They plan to pair their on-going forest mitigation work with CWCB funded culvert upgrades, riparian restoration and floodplain re-connection.
Aerial Mulching Project - WWPG Field Trip
J.W. Associates and Coalition of the Poudre River Watershed invited partners to the Black Hollow Watershed to observe aerial mulching in a high severity burn area of the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire. The focus of the aerial mulching is to protect the water quality of the watershed that flows through the burned area and restore the land.
Past Meetings Locations
2023 Meetings
April - Denver Water
May - Platte Canyon Fire Protection District Office
August - CPRW office, Fort Collins
November - Corona Environmental Consulting
2024 Meetings
February - Golden Community Center
May - NE Teller County Fire Protection District Office
November - Aurora Water
2022 Meetings
August - Cameron Peak Fire Field Trip
October - Virtual
2019 Meetings
February – Aurora location
May – Frisco location
July – Colorado Springs location
2018 Meetings
January – Colorado Springs location
July – Breckenridge location
November – Aurora location
2017 Meetings
July – Denver location