Project Portfolio

Skywater’s Strategy

We began our master-plan update for this 160-acre historic property on the Colorado River with site tours, meetings and field studies, then facilitated workshops to explore visions and values from multiple stakeholders. The story of Sorrel River Ranch that emerged showed that the river binds the place in interconnected commercial, civic, cultural and ecological relationships.

The core of our river-connecting master plan was a resort-wide dynamic water-reclamation system that benefits from the adjacent river, but also replenishes it. Combining river run-off with captured rain from resort buildings and hardscape, it encompasses an existing creek and ponds plus new settling ponds, aquaculture and an active rainwater catchment system including commercial-scale storage tanks and water treatment to expand possible uses. The combined water recovered from rain and river would irrigate an edible landscape, locavore gardens and agricultural fields, as well as provide water for a greenhouse.