NRCS Grants $3.5 Million For Museum Fire Watershed Restoration In Flagstaff

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has approved an additional three-and-a-half-million-dollars to incorporate watershed restoration measures on private lands in the Museum Fire Flood area. This is the second major funding announcement regarding watershed restoration in as many weeks. Back on November 9th, the head of the forest service pledged to provide three-and-a-half million dollars toward the district’s request for on-forest watershed restoration measures. The money was requested by the Coconino County Flood Control District to the Forest Service and will be used to design and construct watershed restoration measures on Forest Service land between the burn scar and Flagstaff. Watershed restoration measures include restoration and stabilization of alluvial fans and stabilization of channels, which are done to reduce the level of sediment leaving the burn area and impacting the Mt. Elden Estates area and the Paradise, Grandview, and Sunnyside neighborhoods in Flagstaff. Reducing the level of sediment is a prerequisite for more effective existing and future flood mitigation within the City of Flagstaff.