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We are leading a WRAP for the Roaring Fork Watershed.
What is a Wildfire Ready Action Plan? A proactive strategy to protect Colorado’s watersheds from post-wildfire hazards.
Colorado’s Wildfire Ready Watersheds (WRW) is a program developed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to help communities assess the susceptibility of the state’s water resources, communities, and critical infrastructure to post-wildfire hazards such as flash flooding, erosion, and debris flow, and then implement hazard mitigation projects to reduce their susceptibility before wildfires occur. While the program also provides guidance for reducing susceptibility after wildfire, its main focus is on pre-fire hazard and risk mitigation whenever possible.
How a WRAP Differs from Other
Wildfire Planning Efforts
A Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) focuses on identifying and mitigating risks associated with the acute wildfire event, such as the chances of structure loss, severe fire behavior in sensitive ecosystems, etc. In contrast, a WRAP focuses on preparing for the risks that arise after a wildfire, such as flash flooding, nuisance erosion, and debris flows. The WRAP provides a framework for creating pre and post-fire mitigation plans to reduce the susceptibility of community values to those hazards.
A Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) focuses on identifying and mitigating risks associated with the acute wildfire event, such as the chances of structure loss, severe fire behavior in sensitive ecosystems, etc. In contrast, a WRAP focuses on preparing for the risks that arise after a wildfire, such as flash flooding, nuisance erosion, and debris flows. The WRAP provides a framework for creating pre and post-fire mitigation plans to reduce the susceptibility of community values to those hazards.
Planning Ahead vs. Reacting to a Fire
Currently, many communities only address post-fire watershed hazards after a fire has occurred, using emergency funding to quickly address issues. The Roaring Fork WRAP will be a tool to help the community anticipate and plan for the effects of a wildfire on a watershed before it even occurs. This will ultimately make the community more resilient to wildfire disturbance.
Currently, many communities only address post-fire watershed hazards after a fire has occurred, using emergency funding to quickly address issues. The Roaring Fork WRAP will be a tool to help the community anticipate and plan for the effects of a wildfire on a watershed before it even occurs. This will ultimately make the community more resilient to wildfire disturbance.
WRAPs are Localized Approaches
to Pre-Fire Planning
The Roaring Fork Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) will refine the statewide WRW susceptibility evaluation and tailor it to reflect local values and community-scale data. The goal is to establish a locally developed plan that will lead to actionable WRW projects in the Roaring Fork watershed.
The Roaring Fork Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) will refine the statewide WRW susceptibility evaluation and tailor it to reflect local values and community-scale data. The goal is to establish a locally developed plan that will lead to actionable WRW projects in the Roaring Fork watershed.
Why does the Roaring Fork watershed need a WRAP?
We know our wildfire risk is high.
The Roaring Fork Valley faces high wildfire risk due to its dense fuel stock and dry climate. A century of fire suppression, combined with a changing climate, is exacerbating that risk, increasing the likelihood of extreme wildfires.
We need to prepare for post-fire hazards.
After a wildfire, rain and snowmelt can wash ash, debris, and sediment into our waterways, impacting everything from municipal water supplies to agriculture, recreation, and aquatic habitat. Post-wildfire flash flooding and debris flows can also pose life and safety risks. A WRAP will help identify these risks and create projects to reduce, and in some cases, completely mitigate the risk before it becomes an emergency.
A proactive plan is critical.
Identify high-risk areas with the most reliable, data-driven methods available. Safeguard water supply and quality from wildfire-induced degradation. Build resilient infrastructure for municipal, industrial, and agricultural water capture, transfer, storage, and treatment. Coordinate regional efforts by facilitating collaboration between local governments, water providers, and land managers. Protect aquatic ecosystems from short and long-term wildfire-induced damage to rivers, wetlands, and fisheries.
This project fills an important gap.
There is currently no watershed-scale plan to guide the planning and actions needed to protect the Valley’s highest-risk areas from post-wildfire hazards. The WRAP is a smart public investment that safeguards essential water resources, reduces long-term costs, and supports community well-being, economic stability, and environmental sustainability.
The Wildfire Ready Watersheds (WRW) Statewide Susceptibility Study identified the Roaring Fork watershed as highly susceptible to post-fire hazards such as flash flooding and debris flow.
The Roaring Fork HUC8 watershed was identified by CWCB as being highly susceptible to post-fire hazards, compared to other HUC8s in the state.
Wildfire Ready Watersheds Statewide Study
The WRW program was funded by Senate Bill 21-240, which directed CWCB to use funds to “assess the susceptibility of Colorado’s water resources, communities and critical infrastructure to post-wildfire impacts and advance a framework for communities to plan and implement mitigation strategies to minimize these impacts – before wildfire occur.” CWCB accomplished the “assess the susceptibility” directive by conducting a high-level, statewide susceptibility study of Colorado’s critical Values-at-risk (VARs). This statewide study also fulfilled the “advance a framework” directive by serving as a roadmap for more detailed, higher-resolution studies to follow, also known as WRAPs. The interactive map below shows the data produced by the WRW statewide susceptibility study, illustrating the overall susceptibility of critical VARs around the state to common post-fire hydrologic hazards aggregated to the HUC-12 watershed level. The susceptibility scoring ranges from 0-100 and, reflects the number of VARs susceptible to post-fire hazards in each watershed. More information on how this map was produced can be found here. The results for the Roaring Fork watershed, outlined in blue, will be further refined by the Roaring Fork WRAP to provide more detailed, localized susceptibility data and actionable mitigation strategies.
Ongoing Wildfire Ready Action Plans
There were 20 active WRAPs being developed across Colorado as of February 2025, including the Roaring Fork WRAP. These WRAPs seek to refine the statewide susceptibility study, produce community-specific data, and identify actionable hazard mitigation projects. The interactive map below shows the locations of these 20 WRAPs overlaid on the results of the statewide susceptibility study.
Major Elements of a WRAP
A WRAP is comprised of 6 major elements (i.e., tasks) according to CWCB’s WRAP Template Scope of Work (SOW). The Template SOW is available here.
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