SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — The Blue River in Silverthorne is a stretch of water that Jay Pansing with the Blue River Water Shed Group says needs a lot of work to get it back to Gold Medal fishing status. Now the group has $1.8 million to start that work.
“We just got the $1.8 million grant from the Bureau of Reclamation," Jay said.
Working alongside his daughter Libby Pansing, the Blue River Restoration Project will start with the design phase to restore the Blue River, not because the water is dirty but because it flows from the bottom of the Dillon Reservoir and is too cold.
“It’s a bottom releases dam so all the water is coming out of the bottom,” Libby said. “It's really cold because it’s been sitting at the bottom of the Dillon Reservoir.”
That cold water isn’t something fish or the bugs the fish eat like.
“The bugs the fish eat do not get as big, you don’t get big stone fly hatches,” Jay said. “The whole ecosystem suffers from the cold.”
There’s not much that can be done to warm the water up, but over the next few years there are plans to narrow the river in places and stabilize the banks where the river gets a lot of use.
“We want to take the steps we can so we can create those pools and more rapid type areas to help support the fisheries.” Libby said.
Those steps should help aquatic and wildlife in the area, and Jay says get the Blue River back to Gold Medal status.
“That’s the plan," Jay said.
The Blue River Water Shed Group is hosting a public open house Monday, Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Silverthorne Pavilion to show the plan to restore the Blue River.
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