River
Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch and the City of Loveland Water Treatment PlantProject Description
The Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch is a historic site that currently hosts a working ranch, as well as the Heart-J Center for Experiential Learning, a hands-on learning organization working to engage local youth and community members in history, arts, leadership, agriculture, and environmental conservation. The 2013 flood resulted in loss of the Ranch’s main lodge and several cabins, severe impacts to infrastructure and operations, and significant damage to several county roads at the mouth of the Big Thompson canyon. The purpose of the restoration activities conducted at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch and the City of Loveland Water Treatment Plant, located just downstream, was to implement several techniques at a small scale, and use the project as a demonstration to showcase this diverse suite of methods utilized in a project designed to satisfy multiple watershed improvement objectives.
This demonstration project’s construction was completed in just under 2 months, between March and May 2017.
Interested in getting involved?
The BTWC continues to monitor stream conditions periodically to evaluate long-term success, and is working with partners at Larimer County to help manage noxious weeds present in small numbers in the area. Interested in helping monitor with BTWC staff or donating toward the ongoing monitoring and management?
Sylvan Dale
Project Outcomes
Project length: 3,300 linear feet
1,150 linear feet of bioengineered streambanks
9 in-stream structures
400 willow and cottonwood live stakes
0.6 acres seeded
Learn More
Sylvan Dale Gallery
Sylvan Dale Ranch Aerial After Construction
Aerial look at the Sylvan Dale Ranch reach after the BTWC restoration project
Sylvan Dale Heart J Center Monitoring
Local youth experience water quality testing and aquatic invertebrate sampling at Sylvan Dale Ranch as a part of Heart-J Center’s experiential education programming. (Photo courtesy of Bob Campana)
Sylvan Dale Ranch After Construction
During construction multiple river features were installed such as the “riffle – pool – glide” river bed formation that allows habitat use by fish and easy access and better fishing opportunities for anglers.
Sylvan Dale Monitoring
Heart J Center participants contributing to river conditions monitoring (Photo courtesy of Kirsten Brown)