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<br />e <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />The Many Facets of Westerly Creek through Lowry <br />Dennis Arbogast, PE and Robert Krehbiel, PE <br />1998 CASFM Conference, September 30 - October 2, 1998 <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />Westerly Creek, a tributary to Sand Creek, is located in Denver with its headwaters in <br />Aurora. The greatest opportunity for rehabilitation of Westerly Creek through urban <br />areas is within the fonner Lowry Air Force Base. The Air Force Base was closed in 1994 <br />and is being privatize.d by the cities of Denver and Aurora through the Lowry <br />Redevelopment Authority (LRA). Redevelopment of the Base involves close attention <br />to the multiple uses and the best methods for managing the Westerly Creek water <br />resource. The complicated segment through the site involves extensive wetlands, two <br />major flood control structures, environmental remediation, channel stabilization, <br />floodplain mitigation, aesthetic considerations, open space water features and water <br />quality BMPs. These components are being blended together in the nearly 2,000-acre <br />Lowry Redevelopment Project to provide a sustainable and maintainable stonnwater <br />management system. This project has won numerous awards including the "'997 Base <br />of the Year" from the National Association of Installation Developers and "1998 Real <br />Estate Project of the Year" by the University of Denver Bums School of Real Estate and <br />Construction Management. . <br /> <br />Historically, Westerly Creek has been the victim of encroachment from development like <br />so many urban drainages. Pressure from development dates back to the early days of <br />Denver, prior to Aurora's existence, when the drainage was constrained by fanners to <br />maximize valuable cropland. Next, the U.S. Anny Air Corp (later the U.S. Air Force) <br />chose the area for the Lowry Air Force Base and the first home of the U.S. Air Force <br />Academy. As an airfield, the development priority was flattening the landscape to <br />accommodate runways. and the natural Westerly Creek. drainageway was largely <br />obliterated and piped under the Air Force facilities. <br /> <br />As Denver and Aurora grew, urbanization caused an increase in runoff. Those <br />properties that had encroached into the Westerly Creek floodplain suffered frequent <br />flooding. As stonnwater management regulations were enacted and adopted, new <br />development avoided compounding the drainage problem, but mitigation was, and still <br />is, required. <br /> <br /> <br />like interlocking pieces of a puzzle, the many issues of flood control, stonnwater <br />management, environmental remediation, channel stabilization, aesthetics, water <br />features, recreational open space, wetlands and water Quality all need to be addressed <br />simultaneously to establish a sustainable multi-use drainageway. Each component can <br />not be considered without evaluation of the other integral issues. <br /> <br />Stonn drainage conveyance and flood control through the LoWlY Air Force Base is a key <br />issue due to the presence of two regional detention facilities located on the property. <br />Westerly Creek Dam was constructed in 1990 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to <br />provide flood control protection against all events, including the Probable Maximum <br />Rood. This maximum pool elevation behind the dam constrains local development <br />