WSP12674

• File Number: 8449.925
• Description: Rueter-Hess Reservoir
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 3/1/1999
• Author: Parker Water & Sanitation
• Title: Rueter-Hess Reservoir Project Description
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

JCHA

Rueter-Hess Reservoir Proiect Description

March 1999

location for upstream water storage and, therefore, the two additional sites were dropped from
the Water Court application in December 1991.

Since the Castlewood Canyon dam site is located within the Castlewood Canyon State Park,
it was necessary to get Colorado Parks and Outdoor Recreation's approval to build the dam
at this site. Even though the District proposed to dedicate 2,200 ac of land as parks and open
space to Castlewood Canyon State Park, the Colorado Parks and Outdoor Recreation Board
chose not to cooperate with the District in obtaining the right to construct at the old
Castlewood Dam site. The District's right to acquire the site for a dam at Castlewood Canyon
was denied by the Colorado Supreme Court in November 1993.

However, prior to this decision by the Supreme Court, in June 1993 the District filed a motion
in Division 1 Water Court to add two alternate reservoir sites in ease the CastIewood Canyon
dam site was disapproved by the Colorado Supreme Court. These two alternate dam sites are
Lake Gulch Reservoir, located on a tributary of Cherry Creek just upstream of Castlewood
Canyon State Park, and Newlin Gulch Reservoir, the current site of Rueter-Hess Reservoir.

With the elimination of the Castlewood Canyon Dam site, the District has turned its attention
to Rueter-Hess Reservoir, with Lake Gulch Reservoir being a potential future option for
additional upstream storage. Rueter-Hess Reservoir is considered comparable in many ways
to the old Castlewood Canyon dam site. In fact, in many cases, the Rueter-Hess Reservoir site
is superior to the Castlewood Canyon dam site. While Rueter-Hess Reservoir has a larger
surface area-to-volume ratio, creating the potential for more evaporation at the Rueter-Hess
Reservoir site, and it is an off-stream reservoir that reduces the efficiency of the coUection of
in-priority flood flows, there are several distinct advantages to construction at lthe Rueter-Hess
Dam and Reservoir site. These advantages include:

(1)

Proximity to the District's water supply facilities, which allows reservoir filling
from District Denver Basin and Cherry Creek water resources and for
distribution directly to the District's municipal water supply system.

5611Lrpt

-5-