Five Questions: Chris Carlson leads Loveland’s stormwater duties

May 07, 2023

For Chris Carlson, an interest in storm water management and flood mitigation came from an early hobby and an interest in a college class. He said during his time at Colorado State University as he pursued his civil engineering degree, he took a hydraulic engineering class and realized what that could mean.

"I learned civil engineers get to work with rivers and I love (fishing)," he said, standing along the footbridge above the Big Thompson River as a light rain peppered his coat. "Fish live in rivers and I love to fish."

This started a career for Carlson that has led him to his current position: the city of Loveland's Stormwater Division manager, a position he said was created in 2020.

While he spent many years as a civil engineer, working on storm water capital improvements and even dealing with the aftermath of the 2013 flood, Carlson said his current position provides him a way to be there for the Loveland public in a way not many others get to. He added that part of the joy of what he does comes in what will outlive him in the city's Big Thompson River Corridor Master Plan.

"There's a unique opportunity to serve the public and build a community," he said. "I can see an immediate impact on people's lives that I couldn't see in the private sector."

It started with a childhood interest in rivers, fish and fishing. That's largely what led me to a career in civil engineering when attending Colorado State University. I joined the city from the private sector in 2004 as a civil engineer responsible for the design and construction of stormwater infrastructure improvements. At the time, I worked with muncipalities and desired a way to better serve the public than I could as a consultant. When the 2013 flood hit, I transitioned from my normal duties to flood recovery work by leading the city's river team and managing recovery projects. The city's stormwater division manager position was created in 2020 when stormwater engineering was combined with stormwater maintenance to create a single division. I applied for and was promoted to the new position, which I’ve held for the past two and a half years.

From an engineering perspective, it was an incredibly powerful experience. Everything I had experienced in my career to that point culminated in the immediate response and subsequent years of flood recovery work. I was grateful to have the opportunity to make a difference. It was an opportunity to bring vision to a long-neglected river corridor, change the trajectory of infrastructure decisions for the long-term benefit of our Loveland community and to even improve the river's health.

There's constant variety, I never know what to expect on any given day. We have a small, highly-qualified team focused on a very big mission — keeping our community safe from floods and protecting the water quality of our lakes and river. We do this by constructing and improving stormwater infrastructure; managing the city's stormwater quality permit and program; reviewing development projects for compliance with the city's stormwater standards; managing and maintaining many millions of dollars of infrastructure that protects people from flooding; inspecting underground pipelines; cleaning storm sewers, inlets, manholes, and stormwater quality treatment measures; sweeping the streets; and we’re beginning to implement the new Big Thompson River Corridor Master Plan. We also help plow snow!

The possibility of flooding is often forgotten about until it happens. But it does happen, and it will happen again. Emergency preparedness is something I would encourage everyone to consider, then take steps to improve your safety and resilience. From a safety standpoint, the most common way people die in a flood is from driving their cars into floodwater. It takes a surprisingly small amount of floodwater to put lives at risk. You may have heard the slogan, "Turn Around, Don't Drown." Please take that message to heart.

The Stormwater Division helps keep people safe by implementing floodplain regulations, reducing flood risk, educating the public about stormwater and flooding and working tirelessly to protect the health, safety and welfare of our community when it comes to flooding. I’m very excited about implementing the Big Thompson River Corridor Master Plan for the tremendous legacy it will mean to the community, including improving safety from flooding.

Age: 53

Time in the area: fourth generation Coloradoan, in the area since 1988

Title with the City of Loveland: stormwater division manager

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