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EPA Chief Visits Fort Collins For Environmental Roundtable

Grace Hood
/
KUNC
John Stokes, director of the Fort Collins Natural Areas Department, discusses Poudre River projects with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Fort Collins Mayor Karen Weitkunat.

Climate change and how local governments can respond to it was front and center during a visit to Fort Collins Feb. 11 by White House officials and the Head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Of particular interest were efforts the city has taken restoring the Poudre River watershed as floods and fires threaten the water supply.

The tour just north of Old Town on the Poudre Bike Trail was led by John Stokes, director of the Natural Areas Department. He stopped in front of a particularly wide part of the river to discuss plans to remove an old water diversion structure.

“It backs water up under the bridge and causes more flooding. So I like to call this the trifecta. We’re going to be doing storm water mitigation, reconnecting habitat and developing recreation right here. That’s really our model throughout the river system,” said Stokes.

Fort Collins managed to escape the worst of last year’s flooding--in part because it received less rainfall compared to places like Boulder. But it’s also spent years investing money to upgrade the city’s storm water drainage system after devastating flooding in 1997.

Credit Grace Hood / KUNC
/
KUNC

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is traveling to places like Fort Collins and New Orleans to learn how local governments are becoming more resilient in a world with climate change.

“You would be surprised at how much action has already happened at the state and local levels,” said McCarthy.

The Obama administration invited Fort Collins’ Mayor Karen Weitkunat to join a national task force last fall after the floods. Last week it named the city as one of seven locations for Climate Hubs to help farmers and ranchers contend with the effects of climate change.

“We are concerned about moving forward, being prepared, being resilient and trying to mitigate the issues that come with some of the problems we’re facing from natural disasters,” said Weitkunat.

The Task Force and Climate Hubs are two ways that the Obama administration is acting on its own to lessen the impact of climate change as Congress remains mired in gridlock.

In addition to making recommendations, the task force is looking at modernizing the federal grant and loan programs to better support local projects and efforts.

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