Kelly Coffey, editor@vailtrail.com
You may have taken an interest in some topic you read about in a magazine article, or some sub-plot from a movie. So you found a book about it. For most of us, it ends there.
Caroline Bradford got into the business of water by not letting it end there.
As the executive director for the Eagle River Watershed Council, Bradford is the link between the various organizations that deal with our water, as well as the link between them, our lawmakers, and the general public. If you want to know if your water is safe to drink, how Los Angeles water rights affect local elk habitat, or where the best fishing is in the valley, you may be going through Bradford to find the answer.
“The Watershed Council provides the forum where everyone comes together to learn about their environment,” Bradford said.
Bradford is a self-educated authority on the health of our rivers and watershed. Combining education, activism, lobbying, fundraising, and stewardship, Bradford’s job is as fluid as the rivers she watches over.
From a trickle of interest
Bradford wasn’t always the authority on our rivers’ health. A minor interest turned into a bigger curiosity, a curiosity turned into a passion, and a passion turned into a mission.
Bradford came to the valley with a background in hospitality. While working on the Vail Valley Marketing Board, a project required her to research the impact tourism had on the valley’s environment. By reading one article, then another, then another, she became interested in conserving the valley’s natural environment.
This newfound passion led her to help Kim Langmaid create the Gore Range Natural Science School. Eventually she left the science school and took a job with the Watershed Council. This was five years ago.
At the time, that job was only part-time. Bradford quickly turned it into a full-time, year-round position. The Watershed Council has now grown to three full-time employees.
From that original trickle of interest, Bradford has turned herself into a reservoir of contacts and knowledge of most anything water-related, said Maria Pastore, who took the job of project manager for the Watershed Council in February. Pastore credits Bradford with helping her make the transition from her technical and scientific background to the community outreach focus of Pastore’s new job.
Sand clogging our streams
Sand – used to create traction on our icy, winter highways – continues to be the focus of an on-going debate throughout Colorado. While the sand makes our roads safer, it usually ends up in nearby rivers, like Gore Creek. Balancing safety with the health of our environment leaves no easy answers.
To tackle this problem, Bradford and the Watershed Council partnered with the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District. They worked with state transportation officials to create structures on the pass that prevent sand from going into the stream.
“We make progress every summer,” said Dennis Gelvin, general manager of the Water and Sanitation District, noting that more structures are built each year.
Bradford was very effective on the fundraising side of the project, Gelvin said.
Organizers behind this project, descriptively dubbed “The Black Gore Creek I-70 Vail Pass sand clean-up,” sent Bradford to meet with elected officials at the local, state, and national level. Her task was to show that sand run-off from highways affected rivers all over the state, not just on Vail Pass.
Even Congressman Mark Udall thanked Bradford for her efforts during a public meeting in Edwards this past summer.
“Sometimes, in order to get something taken care of in your backyard, you have to show that it is a problem in everyone’s backyard,” Bradford said.
Living, breathing systems
Bradford and the Watershed Council have continued to work on other projects, such as the recently finished multi-year study of Eagle River’s health, which was done by Colorado State University. The group also helps organize the annual “Community Pride Highway Clean-up,” and the monthly speaker series called “Waterwise Wednesdays.” The speaker series aims to create more public awareness of the health of our rivers. The lectures take place at local libraries on the second Wednesday of the month, September through April.
“[The topics are] always associated with the watershed – whether it’s how to improve it or just a topic of interest,” Pastore said. “We always look to the community for ideas.”
“We shouldn’t treat our rivers as if they were just plumbing,” Bradford added. More than merely pipes, Bradford is quick to point out that these are ecosystems where each part – from the fish to the algae to the nitrogen to the eagles, bear, and humans – is interconnected. VT
You may have taken an interest in some topic you read about in a magazine article, or some sub-plot from a movie. So you found a book about it. For most of us, it ends there.
Caroline Bradford got into the business of water by not letting it end there.
As the executive director for the Eagle River Watershed Council, Bradford is the link between the various organizations that deal with our water, as well as the link between them, our lawmakers, and the general public. If you want to know if your water is safe to drink, how Los Angeles water rights affect local elk habitat, or where the best fishing is in the valley, you may be going through Bradford to find the answer.
“The Watershed Council provides the forum where everyone comes together to learn about their environment,” Bradford said.
Bradford is a self-educated authority on the health of our rivers and watershed. Combining education, activism, lobbying, fundraising, and stewardship, Bradford’s job is as fluid as the rivers she watches over.
From a trickle of interest
Bradford wasn’t always the authority on our rivers’ health. A minor interest turned into a bigger curiosity, a curiosity turned into a passion, and a passion turned into a mission.
Bradford came to the valley with a background in hospitality. While working on the Vail Valley Marketing Board, a project required her to research the impact tourism had on the valley’s environment. By reading one article, then another, then another, she became interested in conserving the valley’s natural environment.
This newfound passion led her to help Kim Langmaid create the Gore Range Natural Science School. Eventually she left the science school and took a job with the Watershed Council. This was five years ago.
At the time, that job was only part-time. Bradford quickly turned it into a full-time, year-round position. The Watershed Council has now grown to three full-time employees.
From that original trickle of interest, Bradford has turned herself into a reservoir of contacts and knowledge of most anything water-related, said Maria Pastore, who took the job of project manager for the Watershed Council in February. Pastore credits Bradford with helping her make the transition from her technical and scientific background to the community outreach focus of Pastore’s new job.
Sand clogging our streams
Sand – used to create traction on our icy, winter highways – continues to be the focus of an on-going debate throughout Colorado. While the sand makes our roads safer, it usually ends up in nearby rivers, like Gore Creek. Balancing safety with the health of our environment leaves no easy answers.
To tackle this problem, Bradford and the Watershed Council partnered with the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District. They worked with state transportation officials to create structures on the pass that prevent sand from going into the stream.
“We make progress every summer,” said Dennis Gelvin, general manager of the Water and Sanitation District, noting that more structures are built each year.
Bradford was very effective on the fundraising side of the project, Gelvin said.
Organizers behind this project, descriptively dubbed “The Black Gore Creek I-70 Vail Pass sand clean-up,” sent Bradford to meet with elected officials at the local, state, and national level. Her task was to show that sand run-off from highways affected rivers all over the state, not just on Vail Pass.
Even Congressman Mark Udall thanked Bradford for her efforts during a public meeting in Edwards this past summer.
“Sometimes, in order to get something taken care of in your backyard, you have to show that it is a problem in everyone’s backyard,” Bradford said.
Living, breathing systems
Bradford and the Watershed Council have continued to work on other projects, such as the recently finished multi-year study of Eagle River’s health, which was done by Colorado State University. The group also helps organize the annual “Community Pride Highway Clean-up,” and the monthly speaker series called “Waterwise Wednesdays.” The speaker series aims to create more public awareness of the health of our rivers. The lectures take place at local libraries on the second Wednesday of the month, September through April.
“[The topics are] always associated with the watershed – whether it’s how to improve it or just a topic of interest,” Pastore said. “We always look to the community for ideas.”
“We shouldn’t treat our rivers as if they were just plumbing,” Bradford added. More than merely pipes, Bradford is quick to point out that these are ecosystems where each part – from the fish to the algae to the nitrogen to the eagles, bear, and humans – is interconnected. VT