Bear Creek Gate Replacement Information

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .mil

A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.

Secure .mil websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Omaha District Website

/ / / / /

November 2024 Project Update

Bear Creek Gate Maintenance – November 2024 Update

The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was signed by the USACE Omaha District Commander, Colonel Newbauer, on September 11, 2024.

USACE is now in the process of designing the new gates. It is necessary for USACE employees to enter the dam and verify the measurements of the gates. This work is not expected to take more than one day and will occur during early December. The reservoir level at the time will determine what steps need to be taken to safely obtain the measurements.

If the water level is at or above the weir elevation of 5558 feet, the reservoir would need to be drawn down an approximate 0.5-foot below elevation 5558 feet. The drawdown should not take more than one day and would be followed by the gate measurements. To keep the working environment dry, no releases from the dam would occur during the gate measurements which may take up to one day to complete.

Currently, the reservoir water level is about 1.5 feet below the weir and long-range forecasts show that the reservoir may remain below the weir through December. If that is the case, a 0.5-foot drawdown would not be required. To keep the working environment dry, no releases from the dam would occur during the gate measurements, which may take up to one day to complete.

At this time, USACE does not have an anticipated year that construction will begin for the gate replacement but will provide updates as they become available. The condition of the gates will continue to be routinely monitored to ensure they are functioning safely.

Project Documents

FINAL EA & FONSI
FINAL Appendix A
FINAL Appendix B
FINAL Appendix C
DRAFT EA & FONSI
View the Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
DRAFT Appendix A
Public Notice for Draft Report Availability

Bear Creek Gate Replacement - Background Information

The Bear Creek Dam and Reservoir in the South Platte River Basin in Colorado was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-483). The authorized purposes of the project are flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement. The normal regulation of the Bear Creek Reservoir involves responsibilities of USACE and the State of Colorado. The State tracks water rights on Bear Creek and the South Platte River and makes requests for releases to the USACE. These releases supply irrigation, water supply diversions, and normal river flows.

There are two service and two emergency gates at the outlet structure. The gates are operated manually by the TriLakes Project Office. A dome-type gated control structure buried under the main embankment has two 3X6 foot hydraulically operated slide service gates in each gate passage from which the water is admitted into one of two oblong conduits that terminate at the exit portal. Two additional 3X6 foot emergency gates are located 6 feet upstream of the service gates.

Recent inspections of the Bear Creek Dam have shown the emergency gates, service gates, steel liners, and other metal components in the gate structure showed substantial corrosion. Although the gates are still functional, this corrosion has caused the emergency and service gates to not seal properly and allows water to leak while closed (see Figure 2). It was determined that maintenance actions need to be taken to ensure that the gates remain functional in the future. Figure 2 below shows a photo of the emergency and service gates taken during the inspection.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), in coordination with the City of Lakewood, Colorado, will hold an open house on Tuesday, June 25^th, 2024 at the Red Rocks Baptist Church (14711 W Morrison Rd) in Morrison, Colorado from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to provide the public an opportunity to learn about the proposed gate replacement of two service and two emergency gates at Bear Creek Dam and solicit public input.

During the open house, the community is welcomed to join USACE representatives and technical experts to discuss the proposed Operation and Maintenance project.

Read the Environmental Assessment for the project here. Read the public notice here. Please contact CENWO-CW-PlanningOutreach@usace.army.mil for all comments regarding the topic.