Following heavy rains which fell mid-September in Colorado, the pool elevation at the Bear Creek reservoir rose several feet. At 4 a.m., Sept. 15, the reservoir pool elevation surpassed its previous record elevation of 5587.1 feet, which occurred in 1995 and peaked at a pool elevation of 5607.9 ft on Sept. 22. By mid-October, pool levels had returned to normal levels. Bear Creek Dam did what it was designed to do by catching the runoff and reducing flooding risks to the hundreds of homes located downstream.