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7 BIG ELK MEADOWS DAMS DESCRIPTIONS <br />Big Elk Meadows is located in the southwest portion of the study area approximately five miles <br />upstream of US 36 along La rime r County Road 47. The community dates back to 1953 and consists <br />of approximately 160 homes which are owned by full -time and part -time residents. In 1966, the <br />Big Elk Meadows Association (BEMA) was formed to provide municipal services to the residences. <br />BEMA owns five dams located within the community that are the source of water for the <br />residences. The BEMA dams are on- channel structures located on the West Fork of the Little <br />Thompson River. Meadow Lake Dam, Mirror Lake Dam, Rainbow Lake Dam, and Willow Lake Dam <br />are located in Larimer County (Sections 34 and 35, Township 4N, Range 72 west, Sixth P.M.). The <br />upstream most structure, Sunset Lake Dam, is located in Boulder County (Section 3, Township 3N, <br />Range 72 West, Sixth P.M.). An aerial image map of BEMA and all five dams is shown below in <br />Figure 4 <br />Figure 4 —A Pre -Flood Aerial Image Map showing the Big Elk Meadows Association water supply dams. <br />The construction history of the dams is not well documented, but they appear to have all been <br />constructed in the early 1950's. Excerpts from file documents indicate that Mirror Lake Dam and <br />Rainbow Lake Dam were constructed in 1952; Meadow Lake Dam, Willow Lake Dam, and Sunset <br />Lake Dam were constructed in 1955. Documents were found for each dam dated from 1952 and <br />1953 to support water rights filing on the reservoirs that were decreed in 1958. <br />An important step for the failure investigation study was to gather information on the pre -flood <br />existing conditions for each dam and reservoir. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data became <br />available from FEMA for the BE MA area shortly after the September flooding and was used to <br />Report of the September 2013 Little Thompson River Flooding COLORADO <br />and Big Elk Meadows Dam Failures, June 2014 (Revised, Dec 2014) * Division of Water Resources <br />Page 8 of 48 b pirtm._nt or r.a,ur,r s,,sourc�, <br />DAM SAFETY BRANCH <br />