Prior to restoration, Brush Creek was a steep and highly degraded subalpine tributary to the Roaring Fork River that flows through the heart of the Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado. Almost all the stream channel in the rapidly developing valley has been dramatically altered by channel straightening and changes in hydrology caused by impervious surfaces (roads and rooftops), rapid snowmelt, and rerouting of ski slope drainage. Combined with the highly erodible Mancos shale soils of the area, the stream had downcut deeply and created a chronic source of sediment to the blue-ribbon fishery of the Roaring Fork River downstream.

     To fulfill town master plan goals for an "aesthetic and functional gateway corridor," the community obtained EPA 319 funds to begin watershed recovery. The town's landscape architect, John McCarty developed a conceptual vision of rehabilitating the channel to create a naturally landscaped and accessible mountain stream connected to Snowmass's bike and pedestrian trails. McCarty retained Confluence for this challenging project to oversee final design and channel construction and to provide input on landscaping and greenway development.

   The project reach was 1,000 feet long, with an average 6% slope. It was constrained on one side by the only road to Snowmass and on the other by a business center parking lot. To gain equipment access, our site assessments led to the design and installation of a temporary flow bypass beneath the channel bed. A temporary haul road was then constructed on top of the bypass. To construct a channel capable of withstanding mountain floods, the stream bed was raised up to six feet in places to evenly distribute grade and hydraulic energy. The stream bed was then reconstructed with gravel, cobbles, and boulders and pool habitat was created for native trout.

   At the completion of construction, the entire project area was revegetated with native subalpine vegetation and a trail and picnic area were installed. As a result of these significant improvements, Brush Creek has been transformed from an unsightly, eroding gully into a beautiful natural amenity for the Town of Snowmass Village.