Poudre River Whitewater Park Master Plan & Design

Over a mile of the Poudre River through the heart of downtown Fort Collins will be enhanced to provide thousands of visitors the opportunity to swim, tube, picnic, walk, bike, fish, bird watch, and have a good time while the natural resources and wildlife corridors are protected and fish passage and habitat are improved in the river.

Biohabitats was an integral member of the BHA Design-led multi-disciplinary team, retained by the City of Fort Collins, to develop a master plan and design for over a mile of the Poudre River corridor through downtown Fort Collins. The Poudre River—the original agricultural, business and commercial hub of the city—holds an iconic status for the community. Recognizing its significance for recreation and conservation , the City began managing the river corridor to protect its high value natural resources and recreational user experience for biking, walking, picnicking, tubing, swimming, and fishing. However, several constraints hindered recreational use and degraded the natural value, including two water diversion dams; areas of steep, riprap channel banks; and major road and rail crossings.

Biohabitats assisted the design team with natural resources assessment (vegetative communities and wildlife habitat, ecological connectivity, floodplain and riparian buffer, and wetland/groundwater recharge areas) and geomorphic characterization of the river and adjacent lands. Biohabitats established suitability criteria and developed the ecological framework for buffer widths and habitat zones that were incorporated in the river master plan.

With a community approved master plan, the project advanced to design. Biohabitats integrated ecological design and planting to enhance aquatic habitat, provide recreational access, maximize ecological functions of the floodplain, provide fish passage, and stabilize the natural riverbank. The project won a 2022 Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects Colorado.