Colorado is facing one of the most brutal drought years on record: Snowpack is already at a 40-year low as of April 2026 as record-breaking heat in March fueled a rapid melt off, exacerbating statewide drought conditions. The pressure on our watersheds has never been higher, as is the need for everyone from state and city leadership, non-profits, farmers, and even individual residents to contribute to finding creative solutions. One stakeholder group that is often overlooked are businesses. Not only does the business sector need reliable water for the provision of its products and services, but businesses have the capital and, increasingly, the desire to voluntarily contribute to shared community challenges – such as Colorado’s water resource crisis.
Colorado businesses are increasingly taking responsibility for watershed health and the cascade of ecosystems, economies and communities that rely on Colorado’s watersheds. Water Education Colorado has previously reported on efforts by manufacturers Coors and Leprino Foods to institute water-wise practices, along with the growing swell of other corporate giants like Intel, Google, and PepsiCo investing in a better water future for Colorado.
What about small to midsize businesses which make up 99.5% (over 715,000) of Colorado’s business community and employ over 1 million people statewide? While corporate giants like Coors or Google have the resources to launch massive sustainability wings, small to midsize businesses can feel sidelined by a lack of internal capacity. Enter WishGarden Herbs, an herbal products company based in Louisville, which has been sourcing native medicinal herbs for their products since 1979. As an MBA student gaining school credit while consulting on sustainable practices, I have been working with the company to prove that small to midsize businesses don’t need a massive sustainability team to become meaningful water stewards. By focusing on the intersection of biodiversity and riparian health, we are launching a model that any Colorado business, regardless of size, can follow by leveraging the power of local partnerships.
Stewardship At Any Size
Anna Hunziker, VP of Impact and Development at WishGarden Herbs, holding a bunch of common teasel flower heads, each of which can produce more than 2,000 seeds. Photo by Catherine Zummer
Often, businesses have the capital and desire, while nonprofits have the expertise to implement water stewardship projects, creating a natural opportunity for partnership. When WishGarden reached out to local nonprofit. The nonprofit’s mission is to preserve and enhance the natural beauty and function of the Coal Creek corridor by stewarding native plants and restoring habitat, while acting as a steward for riparian areas in WishGarden’s backyard. With the help of employee volunteers, we initiated action days to remove common teasel, an invasive plant designated as a “List B” species in the Colorado Noxious Weed Act, which means that local governments are required to manage it via eradication, containment, or suppression.
Such is the risk of invasive riparian species such as common teasel, russian olive, and tamarisk. These plants are water thieves — they are excellent at outcompeting native plants, which means less water is available for native ecosystems and to flow where it is desperately needed. By clearing out this invasive species, we are making room for reseeding the Coal Creek corridor with native grasses that will stabilize banks, increase soil moisture, and create a more drought-resistant watershed.
Getting Involved
Collaborative watershed management is where public-private partnerships can create real results to promote water security in Colorado. When small to midsize businesses step up, they can provide needed capital and resources to support local governments and nonprofits in acting as stewards of our water and the interconnected systems that depend on it.
WishGarden and Friends of Coal Creek are just getting started – the business hopes to nurture the growing relationship into a lasting and durable partnership centered on sustainability and resilience that inspires other small to midsize for-profit organizations to take responsibility for water stewardship in Colorado.
As WishGarden’s senior sourcing & purchasing manager, Lauren Nichols-Sheffler puts it, “Yes, organic agriculture is essential, always, but it’s in the soil, the biodiversity, and most importantly, in the hands of the stewards who care for forests and wildlands that keep our most sensitive and beloved herbs thriving for years to come.”
WishGarden is proving that consistent commitments to action contribute to a more resilient water future for Colorado. As a local small business, WishGarden’s example shows that you don’t need a dedicated internal sustainability team, like the large firms, to start – you just need a local partner and a willingness to dig in to make a difference in Colorado’s water future.
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