As the Mile High Flood District's Environmental Manager, Mary is acting as a central ecological and environmental compliance resource for District and Local Government engineers, ecologists, and regulatory compliance specialists. Mary is also developing new, data-driven decision frameworks related to best practices for the ecological aspects of the District's High Functioning, Lower Maintenance Solutions project approach.

Lessons from an Elder District: Established by the Colorado legislature in 1969 to assist local governments in the Denver area with multi-jurisdictional drainage and flood control challenges, Mile High Flood District includes 1,600 miles of major streams and serves a population of almost three million. FCWD was modeled after MHFD and continues to look to it for lessons learned about government collaboration, sustainable funding, project maintenance, and community outreach. This session will provide background on MHFD and its priorities and share lessons learned valuable for all Fountain Creek Watershed stakeholders as we celebrate the last 16 years and look ahead to future growth and challenges.