FLOOD09590

• County: Arapahoe
• Community: Aurora
• Stream Name: Cherry Creek Lake
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Hydrologic Improvement Assessment Cherry Creek Lake
• Date: 9/1/1993
• Prepared For: State of Colorado
• Prepared By: US Army Corps of Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

dam located about 30 miles upstream from the pJ:esent Cherry Creek Lake site, It

was destroyed by flood in 1933. The Castlewood Reservoir was to include some

storage for irrigation as well as flood control.

Cherry Creek Dam was authorized by the Flood Control Acts of 1941 and 1944,
Construction began in 1946 and was completed in 1950. The Kenwood Dam embankment
was removed and utilized in the construction. During planning for Ch~~rry Creek
Dam in 1943-44, it was decided the incremental benefits foOr Castlewood Dam were
insufficient and Castlewood Dam was deferred.

In April 1964, the Corps of Engineers published a Flood Plain Information

Report defining the flood hazard areas and flood characteristics of the

metropolitan reaches of Sand, Toll Gate, and Cherry Creeks.

The Omaha District submitted a report discussing the adequacy of Cherry
Creek Dam and Lake in March 1969. The report was revised in 1970. The report
concluded that the embankment height of Cherry Creek Dam should be raised 5 feet,
and that damages could occur in the reservoir area and on Toll Gat" and Sand
Creeks with a full pool and spillway discharge,

An unpublished Interim Report on Sand and Toll Gate Creeks was completed by

the Corps of Engineers in August 1969. This report also consi.dered 'th" Cherry

Creek bas in because of a hydraulic connection through the Cherry Creek Lake

emergency spillway. The Cherry Creek basin portion of the 1969 plan consisted

of: (1) Castlewood Dam, (2) raising the crest of the Cherry Creek Dam emergency

spillway so it would not discharge into Sand and Toll Gate Creeks, and (3) a

Standard Project Flood channel on Cherry Creek downstream from Cherry Creek Dam.

In May 1972, the Interim Report was modified to exclude Castlewood Dam. The

Cherry Creek spillway modification was also deleted and a channel improvement

along Toll Gate Creek to carry 30,000 cubic feet per second (c,f,s.) downstream

from the outlet of the Cherry Creek Lake spillway was recommended, The report

was never forwarded to Congress. Further studies were incorporated into the

broader framework of the "Metropolitan Denver and South Platte River and

Tributaries Study" which was conducted in th" mid-1970's.

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