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There are also areas in southeast Thornton which experience shallow sheetflow flooding from the South Platte River. Scenes of historic floods in Adams County are shown in Figures 1 through 16. 2.4 Flood Protection Measures The first tangible contribution to flood control affecting Adams County streams was made in 1890, when the Castlewood Dam, primarily intended for irrigation storage, was completed by the Denver Land and Water Company on Cherry Creek, 35 miles upstream from Denver in Arapahoe County. The dam, with a storage capacity of approximately 13,000 acre-feet, was mi stakenly regarded by many as protection against deluges. In August 1933, the dam burst under pressure of water from severe thunderstorms in the upper Cherry Creek Basin. Flood control measures on Cherry Creek began in 1936 with the completion of the $800,000, 55-feet high Kenwood Dam, 5 miles from southeast Denver, near Sullivan, Colorado. Despite security, Kenwood Dam was not regarded as the complete answer to flood control on Cherry Creek; therefore, in 1950, the Cherry Creek Dam was constructed just upstream of Kenwood at a cost of $20 million. The dam, 14,300 feet wide and 140 feet high, now serves Denver as a park and water recreation area as well as a retarding barrier for floods much larger than the event of June 1965. With a history of major flooding on the South Platte River through 1933 and with the culmination of planning, design, and construction of Cherry Creek Reservoir in 1950, the Denver metropolitan area saw an additional need for a flood control structure on the South Platte River just downstream of the Plum Creek confluence. During the 1950s, planning and design for the Chatfield Dam flood control reservoir was completed. At that time, however, funding was not available to initiate and complete construction. Three hundred million dollars in property damages suffered 1n 1965 flooding changed the minds of many and lead to project funding and construction. In 1973, final closure of the dam was made and the facility became capable of storing tributary floodwaters. Chatfield Dam is located approximately 0.5 mile above the City of Littleton, Colorado, in Douglas and Jefferson Counties. In addition to the Cherry Creek, Mt. Carbon, and Chatfield Dams, one additional flood control measure, the Bear Creek Dam, was envisioned in the early 1940s. Authorization for funding and design of the dam did not occur until 1968. Construction on the $68 million earthfill structure was started in July 1974, and it is scheduled to be fully operational in 1979, The dam will be 170 feet high and approximately 7,000 feet wide, having a storage capacity of 75,000 acre-feet. 12