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<br />.., <br /> <br />December II, 2001 <br />For Immediate Release <br /> <br />News Contact: Doug Morris, Councilperson <br />Greenwood Village, Colorado 303 770-7790 <br /> <br />Addressinl! Controversv rel!ardinl! the Corps of Enl!ineers Cherrv Creek Dam and <br />Reservoir Studv <br /> <br />In 1997 the Corps of Engineers held a public hearing and reported that Cherry Creek <br />Dam would fail in a Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) event and recommended fifteen <br />alternatives for dam safety protection. At the Corps' hearings, the general public and <br />Cherry Creek basin property owners expressed their concerns regarding the Corps' <br />engineering and proposed recommendations for their dam safety program. The general <br />public asked the question "Mr. Corps of Engineers are you sure that there is a dam safety <br />problem at the Cherry Creek Dam"? This question is of much concern to many private <br />parties and government officials. In 1999 U. S. Representatives Tancredo & Hefley <br />requested that an independent review be performed ofthe National Weather Service <br />(NWS) Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) data used in the Corps' Cherry Creek <br />Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) Study. In 1999, the Sixty-Second Colorado General <br />Assembly enacted Senate Joint Resolution No. 99-023 which not only questioned the <br />U.S. Army Corps of Engineers PMF study findings and the National Weather Service <br />precipitation data, but directed that an independent peer review be conducted. <br /> <br />In response to the requests from the general public and the citizemy of the Cherry Creek <br />Basin for an independent peer review, the City Councils of Greenwood Village and <br />Aurora and Boards of County Commissioners of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties in <br />cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board appropriated funds for an <br />independent peer review. The former Greenwood Village Councilperson Don Morrison <br />can be credited for sponsoring work group meetings for the formulation of an <br />independent peer review project. <br /> <br />Dan's efforts proved to be fruitful because the State of Colorado and its Cherry Creek <br />basin communities have contracted for an independent peer review (Study) of the <br />National Weather Service data. The project is sponsored by the Cities of Greenwood <br />Village and Aurora and the Counties of Arapahoe and Douglas in cooperation with the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board. The project sponsors contracted Applied Weather <br />Associates (AWA), of Monument, Colorado. The AWA review of the NWS PMP 1995 <br />Study is scheduled for completion in April 2002. <br /> <br />A W A is tasked with the responsibility to evaluate the NWS data to determine if their <br />1995 study values are representative of Colorado's unique storm patterns and topography <br />ofthe eastern slope ofthe Rocky Mountains. To further insure that A W A project findings <br />and the peer review are up to good scientific standards, the project sponsors have <br />solicited the professional opinions and comments ofthree recognized hydrologic experts. <br />These experts formed a technical review panel to scrutinize A W A's findings and project <br />recommendations. <br />