River Champions Advocacy Fund

For more than 55 years, Colorado TU has been a home for those championing protection of Colorado's rivers and trout. Your support of our new River Champions Fund can help support continued advocacy by Colorado TU and our 23 local chapters in the face of the new challenges facing our rivers and watersheds. Your gift through Colorado Gives will help with key campaigns including:

Protecting Colorado's Waters. 

When the Supreme Court scaled back federal protections for many Colorado waters, Colorado TU worked with state legislators and other partners to pass legislation authorizing a state permit program for "dredge and fill" of waters, to maintain protections in the face of federal rollbacks. Last year, Colorado TU engaged in the formal rulemaking process setting up that state permitting program. Now, your help will enable us to watchdog the first major water project being permitted under the new state rules - a proposed Aurora Water reservoir in Park County - to help ensure that impacts to Spinney Mountain Reservoir and to the South Platte, Arkansas, and west slope rivers are minimized and mitigated.

Defending Public Lands.  

Colorado TU has a long history of fighting for balanced protections for public lands, including support for the Browns Canyon National Monument and the first-of-its-kind Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Area. With attacks mounting on our federal public lands, you can help us keep public lands in public hands, protect Colorado's roadless areas, and defend treasured landscapes like the Roan Plateau and Dolores River canyons.

Responsible Data Center Development.  

With water supplies tightening in the face of a changing climate, and the need for renewable energy ever-growing, it is vital where data centers are developed that it be done in a manner that protects water resources and avoids harm to communities. Dueling bills both failed at the 2025 legislative assembly. Through your contribution to the Champions Fund you can help us advocate for responsible safeguards on data center development that avoid and offset impacts to our water supplies, energy grid, and local communities.

Through the dedication of Colorado TU's professional staff, volunteer advocacy committee, and 23 community-based chapters, we will continue to champion Colorado's rivers. Your support of the River Champions Fund helps make that work possible.

Help Protect Colorado's Rivers

The future of Colorado's rivers depends on people willing to stand up for clean water, healthy watersheds, and the public lands we share.

Your support helps Colorado TU advocate for the protection of our rivers, respond to emerging conservation challenges, and ensure that these important resources remain healthy for generations to come.

Give to the River Champions Fund and help protect Colorado's rivers for generations to come.