Creative Ways to Fund Stream Restoration
Bao Chongtoua
Ashlee Grace
Mile High Flood District
Lakewood, CO
The Denver metropolitan area has an interesting mixture of older at-risk neighborhoods built before we planned around flood risk, new greenfield development, and everything in between. The Mile High Flood District is a regional agency involved in both flood mitigation projects in older parts of town and in land planning and infrastructure decisions for newly developing areas.
Over time, we’ve observed that nearly 75% of waterway infrastructure projects are initially built by private land development projects, but this infrastructure eventually lands in the public agency infrastructure portfolios to manage and maintain. Waterway infrastructure projects are notoriously challenging to design and permit, which can impact cost and schedules for land development projects.
The Mile High Flood District has explored creative ways to partner with land developers to alleviate their burden in designing, permitting, and building waterway infrastructure while also improving the overall quality of newly built waterway infrastructure at a highly efficient cost that optimizes both private and public dollars.
About Bao Chongtoua
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About Ashlee Grace
Ashlee Grace serves as the Development Services Deputy Director for the Mile High Flood District, where she leads strategic planning and the delivery of resilient, community‑focused infrastructure and land‑development services. She oversees engineering and planning operations, guides complex initiatives, and builds strong partnerships across local governments and the development community to advance sustainable growth and public well‑being.
Prior to joining MHFD, Ashlee served as the Director of Waterway Resiliency for the City and County of Denver, leading a first-of-its-kind partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deliver restoration and flood‑risk‑mitigation projects along the South Platte River and two tributaries. She brings over 15 years of experience in strategic and urban planning and in delivering complex capital programs with diverse stakeholders. Ashlee holds a BA in Sociology and Latin American Studies from New York University, along with a Master of Urban Planning and a Master of Science in Natural Resource Management from the University of Michigan.
About Katie MacMannis, PE
Katie MacMannis is a Project Manager at Sustainable Streams with 16 years of experience in the fields of stormwater management, watershed planning, stream channel stability, and water quality. Katie has written several watershed plans throughout Kentucky and Ohio and has been a key developer of assessment tools for stream stability. Her knowledge of stream restoration permitting continually results in successful approvals.