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<br />.. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />DARIES C. LILE <br />DIRECTOR <br /> <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />DATE: <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />Larry F. Lang <br />Brian R. Hyde <br />1/3/95 <br />Violation of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act on the South Platte Charmel <br /> <br />On Monday, December 12, 1994, I met with Terry McKee of the Corps of Engineers Chatfield <br />Office regarding the failed erosion control structure along the South Platte River just downstream <br />of the Union Avenue Boat Chutes. The meeting was our initial response to the December 6, <br />1994 letter from the Corps of Engineers to Chuck Lile (copy attached) stating that they <br />considered the failure of the structure to be a 404 violation. <br /> <br />The structure was originally built as part of the South Platte Channel flood control project. <br />Downstream of the boat chutes the river currently flows generally toward the north. Prior to <br />the construction of the flood control project the river turned to the west just downstream of <br />Union Avenue (upstream of the site of the erosion control structure). The river then made an <br />oxbow turn back to the east before resuming its northerly course. At the location of the first <br />turn toward the west there is now a large pond in the "overbank" west of the present channel <br />alignment. The pond actually extends to the beginning of the old oxbow turn. The pond <br />discharges through a culvert into a short, narrow channel. The culvert and the beginning of the <br />little channel make up the remainder of the old oxbow. The narrow channel flows to the <br />east/northeast into another smaller pond just west of the current river channel. When the oxbow <br />was cut off by the Corps of Engineers flood control project, the erosion structure (the one that <br />has failed) was built to limit the flow of water from that second pond to the river. In other <br />words, the structure was intended to maintain water levels in the pond and associated wetlands. <br /> <br />Because the second pond and associated wetlands are now considered 404 wetlands, the failure <br />of a structure that preserves any part of the wetlands is, in the eyes of the Corps, a 404 <br />violation. Since the CWCB is responsible for maintenance of all components of the flood <br />control project, the Corps expects the CWCB to take steps immediately to repair the erosion <br />control structure and thereby restore the wetland area that is currently dry. <br /> <br />It appeared to Terry McKee and to me that the failure was brought about by vandalism. <br />Reasonably large rocks that were part of the structure are now sitting in other locations nearby, <br />but not in a way that one would expect from natural causes. With or without the help of shovels <br />