WSP06003

• File Number: 8449.900
• Description: Bear Creek
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 11/1/1991
• Author: City of Lakewood
• Title: Bear Creek Lake Preliminary Environmental Assessment Wetland Task Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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ES ENGINEERING.SCIENCE

BEAR CREEK LAKE

PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
WETLAND TASK REPORT

INTRODUcnON

This task report summarizes findings and conclusions regarding potential changes
in future Bear Creek Lake operations and water storage regimes on jurisdictional
wetland resources found in Bear Creek Lake Park. The City of Lakewood (City)
currently leases the 2,n5-acre park, including the reservoir, from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps) for recreational uses by citizens of Lakewood and other
Denver metropolitan areas.

-'Ibe City's Department of Public Works (Department), together with six other
water supply entities, is considering several alternatives for storing additional water
in Bear Creek Lake. The additional entities include the Evergreen Metropolitan
District, Genesee Water and Sanitation District, Indian Hills Water District, Town
of Morrison, Mount Carbon Water and Sanitation District, and the State of
Colorado.

Four scenarios, which involve water quantities ranging from 405 to 4,625 acre-
feet of new water storage, are being considered. As part of investigating the
feasibility of pursuing the storage scenarios, the Department is having analyses
conducted to identify potential environmental effects of the scenarios on physical,
biological, recreational and economic aspects of the park. The detailed operational
characteristics of each scenario are described in the Blatchley Associates, Inc.
(1991) operational report.

This wetlands task report is the first in a series of reports to address park
resources considered pivotal in determining the feasibility and costs of pursuing
implementation of one or more of the currently proposed scenarios. The purposes
of this task report are to 1) provide a preliminary assessment of existing wetland
resources that may be affected by each scenario's implementation, and 2) to identify
from a wetlands perspective the regulatory and cost implications associated with the
project.

The task report is organized into six sections, including this introduction. The
next section describes the report objectives. The third section describes the
distribution, characteristics, values, and quantity of jurisdictional wetlands occurring
in areas that could be inundated by increased water storage. The fourth section

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