Our Watershed
The Rio Grande watershed in Colorado covers 8,200 square miles. The Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project area includes the 200 miles of the Rio Grande Corridor in Colorado, including all of the tributaries of the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande enters the San Luis Valley, the largest intermountain basin in Colorado, at the town of South Fork. The San Luis Valley is bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, the San Juan Mountains to the west and south, and the Cochetopa Hills to the north.
Our Staff
Daniel Boyes - Executive Director
Serving as Executive Director since 2023, Daniel feels lucky to work with a wide range of local partners and stakeholders to implement impactful river restoration projects. He spends his free time mountain biking and exploring the San Luis Valley and southern Colorado.
Before starting with the RGHRP in 2018, he spent five years working in stream ecology and wildlife research across the West.
Emma Reesor - Administrative Director
Formerly the Restoration Project's Executive Director, Emma now supports restoration efforts in an administrative capacity, helping with grant writing, reporting, and budgeting.
After living in the valley for _ years, Emma and her family now live in Canada.
Cassandra McCuen - Program Manager
As Program Manager, Cassandra leads river restoration efforts across the San Luis Valley. With a background in wildlife and natural resources conservation, she coordinates everything from project planning and funding to construction oversight and monitoring, while also representing RGHRP in outreach, education, and regional water planning. She proudly serves as the Education Representative and Vice Chair of the Rio Grande Basin Roundtable, and president of the San Luis Valley Regional Habitat Conservation Plan Steering Committee.
Originally from Long Island, Cassandra feels most at home near water. Since moving to the Valley, she has become deeply passionate about protecting local water resources for both ecosystems and the communities that rely on them. Her favorite part of the job is building relationships with community members and partners, learning new perspectives, and seeing the visible, on-the-ground impact of their work.
A lover of too many hobbies (and a master of none), she lives a full life and is always up for trying something new. She happily subjects her partner Andrew and their English Springer Spaniel, Ophelia, to all of her adventures—indoors, outdoors, and everywhere in between.
Connor Born - Stewardship Coordinator
Connor started at the Restoration Project in 2019 as a full time volunteer through the Mennonite Voluntary Service program. He came to Colorado just after earning his undergraduate degree in Biology from Bethel College in Kansas, where he worked in prairie ecosystems looking at ecological succession and arthropod diversity. Upon arriving in the San Luis Valley, Connor quickly grew to appreciate the strong sense of comradery and collaboration that is present in the water community.
Now a full employee, his role as Stewardship Coordinator involves leading Process-Based Restoration efforts with agencies like the United States Forest Service, working with landowners to manage beaver conflict, and monitoring past restoration projects across the valley.
When he's not restoring rivers you can find Connor cooking, baking, playing trumpet in local music groups, rock climbing, and roasting coffee.
Kira Dobbins - Rivercorps Service Member
Kira is a River Corps member assisting with project monitoring and restoration implementation as a Watershed Health Technician with the RGHRP and the Rio Grande National Forest. She just moved to the Valley after graduating from Oberlin College (Ohio) last spring with a degree in Geology and Environmental Studies, and a season of field experience in stream monitoring. Kira is originally from Portland, Oregon, and is grateful for the opportunity to learn from everyone working with water in an environment so very different from the wet places she grew up in.