Historic land use practices had resulted in destabilization of this reach of the San Miguel River creating an excessively wide and shallow cross-section at the point of effluent discharge from the Town of Telluride Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. In order to re-stabilize the river and maximize effluent mixing to meet CDPHE water quality standards, ERC designed and implemented a natural channel design approach along the 485’ reach that stabilized the channel, re-established appropriate width-depth ratios, increased sinuosity and created native riparian floodplain habitat. ERC/Tezak delivered the project utilizing a turn-key design-build model, providing initial concept development, cost estimates, construction plans, complete regulatory permitting and construction implementation including earthwork, vegetation transplants, nursery willow installation and native reseeding.
