The Big Thompson Watershed Coalition began as a grassroots response to the devastating 2013 floods. In 2015, BTWC became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving the health and resilience of the Big Thompson watershed for the communities, wildlife, and many Coloradans who rely on its natural resources.
Today, we work to restore rivers and streams, improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, support recovery after floods and fires, protect water supplies, and connect landowners and community members with resources to care for the watershed.
Beginning in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Big Thompson River flows through mountain communities, the Big Thompson Canyon, Loveland, and the plains before joining the South Platte River. The watershed is a gateway to one of the nation’s most visited national parks and includes critical infrastructure, which helps deliver water to more than one million Coloradans. It connects forests, neighborhoods, farms, businesses, wildlife habitat, recreation, and water users throughout the region.
Protecting the watershed is about more than land and water—it means protecting communities, economies, infrastructure, and the natural resources that sustain Northern Colorado.
Colorado is facing extreme drought, limited snowpack and runoff, and an already active wildfire season. These conditions are stressing forests, rivers, wildlife habitat, and water supplies across the Big Thompson watershed while increasing vulnerability to wildfire and other disturbances.
The risks are already part of life here. The watershed continues to recover from the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history, while the 2024 Alexander Mountain Fire brought wildfire impacts even closer to the communities we serve.
Wildfire effects can continue for years. Burned landscapes are more vulnerable to erosion, flooding, and the movement of ash, sediment, and debris into streams, threatening water quality, infrastructure, and downstream communities.
BTWC works before and long after disasters—helping communities prepare, restoring forests and streams, and building a watershed better able to withstand drought, wildfire, and flooding. While grants support much of our work, donations provide the flexibility to respond to emerging needs, develop future projects, and sustain recovery work over time.
Please donate today and help protect the Big Thompson watershed—now and for generations to come.
Learn more about our current work in the watershed:
Working with others to take action that protects and restores the health and vitality of the Big Thompson watershed for the use and enjoyment of our community.
The Big Thompson Watershed Coalition began as a grassroots response to the 2013 floods and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2015. Since then, BTWC has grown into a watershed-wide organization working across public and private lands to restore rivers and floodplains, improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, protect water supplies, and support long-term recovery from floods and fires.
Over the past decade, BTWC has secured more than $25 million in grant funding for restoration and resilience work, restored over 28 miles of river corridor, collaborated with more than 375 private landowners, and advanced projects across mountain, canyon, and urban areas of the watershed. Following the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, BTWC also directed more than $9 million toward recovery efforts to reduce erosion, restore damaged streams, improve forest health, and protect downstream water quality and infrastructure.
By bringing together landowners, local governments, water providers, fire districts, conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies, BTWC turns shared priorities into lasting improvements on the ground. This work helps ensure that the Big Thompson watershed can continue supporting communities, wildlife, recreation, agriculture, local economies, and water users across Northern Colorado.
Organization name
Big Thompson Watershed Coalition
other names
BTWC, Big Thompson River Restoration Coalition
2015
Tax id (EIN)
81-0753905
Category
Environment
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
P.O. Box 1923Mailing
PO Box 1923Larimer County, CO, US