ARCHIVED  March 1, 1996

Wetlands firm blends science, construction

By

FORT LUPTON — Twenty-five years ago, Jay Windell, a former University of Colorado professor, approached the city of Boulder to develop a linear park along Boulder Creek.
The project was so successful that Windell’s company, Aquatic and Wetlands Consultants Inc., took the idea to other municipalities.
Today, Colorado has become a model state in providing recreational areas for its citizens, with linear parks and trails along many of the rivers and creeks throughout the state.
With a unique blending of science and construction, AWC and its three related companies offer design-build services to restore ecological balance and manage water resources. AWC develops possible solutions to its clients’ problems, from flood control and water-quality improvement to pollution control, fishing enhancement and more. The three other companies on the team are:

  • Aquatic and Wetland Construction Co. Inc., which implements the plan, stabilizing streambeds, planting native vegetation or creating a wetland.
  • Aquatic and Wetland Nurseries Inc., which grows native wetland species for use in its sister companies’ operations as
    well as for other commercial projects.
  • Aquatic and Wetland Treatment Systems Inc., which
    provides a full range of water-treatment services using natural
    systems, such as wetlands technology, to treat waste water.
    “We’re a bunch of scientists, really,´ said Brad Windell,
    president of AWCC. “All of us have masters’ degrees, so we’re
    mixing science with construction, which never had been done.
    We’re solving complex water-chemistry issues with biology.”
    The company averages 25 employees, with backgrounds ranging from
    the biological sciences to business and engineering.
    As an outgrowth of the original consulting company, AWCC had
    to address the issue of startup financing. Armed with a solid
    business plan and five contracts totaling $1.5 million, AWCC was
    able to obtain a bank loan.
    Originating in Boulder, the Fort Lupton-based AWCC now has
    $2 million in heavy equipment, including earth-moving, forestry
    and nursery machinery and facilities. The 200-acre area also
    includes a natural wetlands with 32 species of native wetland
    plants, such as cattails, reeds, bulrushes and willows. AWCC
    stresses the use of native vegetation in its projects.
    “You’ve got to use the vegetation that’s here,” Windell
    said, “or else you’re going to be using too much water, and it’s
    too precious to waste.”
    When it was a fledgling company, many of AWCC’s clients were
    private individuals interested in improving fishing habitat,
    restoring vegetation or developing trails. With its growth, the
    company has taken on increasingly diverse projects and clients,
    including ski areas, ranches, local governments and major
    corporations.
    A recent six-month project at the closed Stapleton International Airport
    dump site involved cleaning up garbage and restoring the stream and native vegetation at Bluff Lake Park. AWCC was able to
    stabilize the shifting sands of the stream banks by using crushed
    runways from the old airport. With the addition of aesthetically
    placed boulders and native vegetation, wildlife has begun to
    return to the area.
    Many of AWCC’s projects are completed over several years, with follow-up and maintenance a regular part of the job.
    Initial plantings for the City of Westminster’s Standley Lake Protection Wetland Project began in the summer of 1995. AWCC will continue to maintain and develop the 12-acre constructed wetland during the summer of 1996.
    According to David Kaunisto,
    senior water resource engineer with the City of Westminster, the
    city is pleased with the success of the project so far and adds
    that the system is functioning as designed.
    One of the company’s special areas of interest is recharging
    aquifers through the use of wetlands. Agricultural water, for
    example, can be filtered through a wetland to purify it, then it
    can be added back to the ground water system, thus conserving
    precious water.
    “Wetlands can treat water,” Windell said.
    Even on a small
    scale, such as a single-family dwelling, the system is more cost-effective than conventional waste-water treatment. Weld County
    has been especially receptive in allowing development of
    residential waste-water treatment using wetlands.
    With a
    wetlands system, water from the septic tank passes into a septic
    tank settling basin, then through the wetlands and into an
    evaporative pond. The pond can become an aesthetic feature of the home site, complete with fish and ducks.
    The complexity and multidisciplinary nature of the companies’ projects requires a great deal of organization and teamwork. According to AWCC’s project manager, Christopher O’Donnell, the team’s commitment is key to the company’s success.
    Windell agrees, adding that it has taken a lot of
    cooperation from the team players, in all areas of their work,
    from identifying the customer to putting together a plan and
    implementing the plan.
    So far, AWCC’s name and reputation have been its most effective marketing tool. But to reach a projected goal of
    $5 million in revenues for 1996, Windell knows he will have to
    actively market and focus on identifying a market niche.
    The recent move to the Fort Lupton area has helped AWCC
    expand its target audience to Northern Colorado. Major
    benefits of the move are increased dispatch efficiency and lower
    taxes. Eventually, AWCC’s sister companies will join them in Fort
    Lupton.
    Plans for the future of AWCC include expanding the nursery
    and greenhouse operations in Fort Lupton, and covering previously
    subcontracted jobs in-house, thus giving the company a better
    handle on quality control.
    Aquatic and Wetland Construction Co.
    9999 WCR 25
    Fort Lupton, Colo. 80621
    (303) 442-4766
    Revenues: $3 million in 1995
    $5 million projected for 1996
    Employees: 25
    Officers: Brad Windell, president; Christopher O’Donnell, project manager
    Function: Provides solutions to ecological restoration, water-resource management and regulatory compliance issues.

    • FORT LUPTON — Twenty-five years ago, Jay Windell, a former University of Colorado professor, approached the city of Boulder to develop a linear park along Boulder Creek.
    The project was so successful that Windell’s company, Aquatic and Wetlands Consultants Inc., took the idea to other municipalities.
    Today, Colorado has become a model state in providing recreational areas for its citizens, with linear parks and trails along many of the rivers and creeks throughout the state.
    With a unique blending of science and construction, AWC and its three related companies offer design-build services to restore ecological balance and manage water resources.…

    Kathleen Glanz
    Categories: ARCHIVED Industry News
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