![Following heavy rains which fell mid-September [2013] 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, and peaked at a pool elevation of 5607.9 ft on Sept. 22, shown here. 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.](https://i0.wp.com/coyotegulch.blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/bearcreekreservoirviausace102015.jpg?ssl=1)
From the US Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District (Kathryn Seefus/Eileen Williamson):
Bear Creek Reservoir near Lakewood, Colorado, will be lowered 5 feet from the normal operating pool elevation of 5,558 feet to allow for inspection and repair work at Bear Creek Dam.
Starting Friday, October 23, releases will be around 50 cubic feet per second (cfs) which fall within channel capacity and are significantly less than the maximum summer release of 500 cfs. The drawdown is expected to take about a week.
During the first three weeks of November, no release will be made from Bear Creek Dam to accommodate planned maintenance, survey, and inspection activities at the outlet works facilities of Bear Creek Dam. Valve repair work will also be conducted in response to damage documented following recent flooding. Beginning the last week of November, normal operations will resume and the lake will continue to refill.
USACE has coordinated this inspection and repair work with the State of Colorado.
Pool elevation graphs for the Tri-Lakes including Bear Creek Reservoir can be found online at: http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/DamandLakeProjects/TriLakesProjects.aspxPool elevation data for these and other USACE-operated dams, updated hourly, can be tracked online at:
http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/plots/plots.html#omaha_plots