ALAMOSA —The Alamosa Riverfront Project team, in collaboration with the community, has been diligently working since last February on plans to enhance recreation opportunities along the Rio Grande in Alamosa and improve river health and downstream agricultural infrastructure. 

Together, they have developed concept designs for a project that is not just community-driven, but community-shaped.  

The team has decided on the plans and expects construction on the project to start in 2026, with that expectation predicated upon receiving the federal funding pledged. 

At a public meeting at the Rio Grande Farm Park on February 6, representatives from Alamosa Parks and Recreation, Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project (RGHRP), and Alamosa County were present to discuss what the public will experience along the river. 

Alamosa Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rice said, "After receiving feedback from our first public meeting, we decided to have more seating area [along the river] and multiple paths down to the water. Our grades will be built to ADA standards. We will have more seating; some of the rock ledges that can accommodate two people will now seat 20, 30, and 40. We will have a beach area with native grasses, which will be a great hangout area. Over 93% of the feedback we received from the public was ‘set the levee back we like it.’ About 10-15 older cottonwoods have to come out, and we will plant some new trees. We will have a fishing habitat and an area to fish. This is super exciting."  

Regarding groundbreaking for the project, Rice said, "We are shooting for 2026, and we have a good start on implementation funding but with the federal turmoil, we can't really say. The [Rio Grande] Restoration Project secured a $1.5 million, but some of that has been frozen so we are in a holding pattern, but 2026 is what we are shooting for." 

Cassandra McCuen, Project Manager with the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project, told the Valley Courier, "This last year, we spent a lot of time going to public meetings and holding public meetings to solicit feedback on the concept designs. Throughout the fall and winter, our engineers were working on incorporating that feedback into updated designs. We are at the point where we have received all the feedback we need, and these will be the final designs moving forward, and what you can expect will be constructed. 

"Moving forward, we will be fundraising for construction. We have raised everything for designs up to this point; for the permitting and designs, we tend to get grants from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, some private family foundations, and corporations. One of our bigger line items is federal grants, and that is a little unknown right now, and we will have to see how that shakes out. We feel pretty positive those grants will still be available in the future. Hopefully, we can solicit some community support and donations like we have done in the past." 

McCuen said the total cost of the project is about $5.8 million. 

The RGHRP is a non-profit based in Alamosa that aims to restore the Rio Grande for all users, recreational, agricultural, and wildlife. 

Funders for the planning and design phase include the Colorado Health Foundation, Trinchera Blanca Foundation, Colorado Water Conservation Board, City of Alamosa. Partners include the City of Alamosa, SLV GO, Rio Grande Farm Park, Alamosa County, San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District, and Westside Ditch water users. 

The improvements in Alamosa will be similar to RGHRP's work along the Rio in Del Norte to increase recreational opportunities there. 

In April of 2024, Alamosa Mayor Ty Coleman told the Valley Courier, "This is an exciting planning process, and we are grateful for the community partnerships that make this project possible. The 2017 Comprehensive Plan lists the activation of the Rio Grande as the number one community priority, so this project helps us move that effort forward." 

To learn more about the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project, visit www.riograndeheadwaters.org.