Grant will help to improve Monument Creek

Flooding after the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires devastated areas along Monument Creek.

Now help is on the way.

The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District received the grant, which matches the $300,000 contributed by the city of Colorado Springs and four other partners.

The next step is to develop a master plan for the creek, a process that will take nearly a year and a half.

But the money is also there to take care of more than just the creek itself.

“We intend to treat all the tributaries of Monument Creek from Palmer Lake to its confluence with Fountain Creek,” said Larry Small of The Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District.

Small says that Monument Creek is important to the entire area because of its relationship to Fountain Creek. The creek empties into Fountain Creek and eventually, the Arkansas River.

If anyone wants to give their input on how the future of Monument Creek should look, they can attend two public meetings next week.

The meetings will be from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. next Tuesday at the El Paso County Office of Emergency Management on Mark Dabling Drive and from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Discovery Canyon Campus on North Gate Blvd.