Upper Beaver Brook Dam Spillway Improvements Project

Project to Increase Storage Capacity at Upper Beaver Brook Reservoir

As of May 1st, 2017, the project has reached the substantial completion milestone.  The new spillway is being monitored under the First Fill Plan, which will last for a minimum of one year.  The project is now in close-out phase.

The John Roscoe Dedication event took place July 8, 2017.

See April Upper Beaver Brook Newsletter 

And July 2017 – Dedication

The reservoir and dam site including District land around the lake is CLOSED to the public and will be monitored during construction for safety and security.  Forest Service Alert:  http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices/?aid=34904

Who

Project Owner     Lookout Mountain Water District

Engineer                GEI Consultants, Inc.      www.geiconsultants.com       Login to GEI Sharefile

Design Permit     Dam Safety Branch and Office of the State Engineer (Permit Issued April 25, 2016)

Colorado Division of Water Resources, Department of Natural Resources  Dam Safety Branch Construction Coordination Memo

Other Permits        Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests

Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture  Staging Permit CLC752

Funding      Colorado Water Conservation Board  http://cwcb.state.co.us/

Colorado Department of Natural Resources

Department of Local Affairs, State of Colorado

Water Activity Enterprise of the Lookout Mountain Water District

General Contractor     SEMA Construction, Inc.  www.semaconstruction.com

Beneficiaries               Customers and tap owners in Lookout Mountain Water District

Division 1 (South Platte River Basin) Colorado Division of Water Resources

What

The project consists of construction of a 3-cycle concrete labyrinth weir spillway constructed at the existing spillway location, modification of the existing access roadway, and modifications to the outlet works.  A temporary cofferdam will be required to protect the construction work from water.   Spillway construction will include rock excavation (which may include controlled blasting) and removal and reuse of excess excavated material, construction of a shallow grout curtain and rock anchors.

When

Design started in August 2013 and completion expected in April 2016

Construction funding secured in November 2015

Construction planned for April 2016 to June 2017

Where

John Roscoe Reservoir at Upper Beaver Brook located on Lookout Mountain Water District lands, accessible through easement on USFS lands. Approximately 7.5 miles northwest of Evergreen, Colorado, in Clear Creek County within the Beaver Brook Watershed. The only adjacent property is under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Why

The John Roscoe Reservoir at Upper Beaver Brook is the primary source of water supply for the Lookout Mountain Water District, which serves approximately 485 homes, several private businesses, a high school, and a number of government-owned facilities.  The reservoir was built by the City of Golden in 1924 and currently holds 257 acre feet of water when full (each acre foot of water contains 325,851 gallons). The District supplies its customers with a total of 140 to 180 acre feet of water in most years, so there is little carry-over storage capacity in the current reservoir to provide for a multi-year drought.  Water supply is entirely dependent on the annual stream flows from the Beaver Brook Watershed and related water rights.

How

The current design safety margins are such that the existing upper dam and reservoir are physically capable of storing an additional 138 acre feet of water if the reservoir’s water level is increased by 10 feet. Engineering studies indicate that a 10-foot concrete labyrinth weir can be installed to safely raise the dam’s spillway. With this planned expansion of the reservoir, its new capacity will be nearly 400 acre feet. Water rights are not expected to be able to fill the reservoir to 100% capacity in every water year.

Total costs for the project are estimated at about $3,325,000 including engineering, legal, water rights, permitting, financial planning, and construction, excluding financing. State and Federal permitting requirements have been a significant part of the initial costs (LMWD received a matching grant for the engineering and permitting phase).

Security / Impact

The reservoir and dam site is CLOSED to the public and will be monitored during construction for safety and security. Noise and visual impact is expected for the duration of the project, due to rock excavation and blasting, operation of heavy machinery, and hauling of material and equipment.  Primary impact is to residents living within 10 miles of the site, visitors within the Beaver Brook Watershed and neighboring land, and travelers along Highway 103 corridor.  Excavation and blasting will occur most frequently from July 2016 through September 2016.  Construction traffic from Squaw Pass to Old Squaw Pass through the Forest Service gate and dirt access road will be noticeable for the duration of the project.  Staging areas between the primary access gate at Old Squaw Pass Road and District property have been approved by USFS permit for the duration of the project.

Impact to Water Supply

Work within and near the spillway must be completed while dry, requiring that the reservoir’s water level be kept between one to five feet (1′ to 5’) lower than the ordinary high water level.   The excess capacity cannot be re-filled until several conditions are met:  1) construction within the spillway is complete 2) water rights are sufficient to allow capture during run-off 3) run-off from the watershed is occurring.  In a best-case scenario, construction will be complete in time to acquire run-off during the spring of 2017.  In a worst-case scenario, the full refill does not occur until 2019 or beyond.  Normally, capture of seasonal run-off primarily occurs from April through July.  The District will attempt to refill as quickly as possible after construction.  Water conservation measures will be implemented if needed.

Contacts

Site Operator and Water Manager:  Jeremy Wheeler  and Mark Cleaveland –  Treatment Technology     mailto:jeremy@treatmenttech.net or mark@treatmenttech.net

District Office/Administrator:  Christina Shea                     cshea@blacklockintegrated.services                303-526-2025

District Board Representative:  Dean Snyder                        dsnyder6@comcast.net

Project Manager, GEI:  Chad Masching, P.E.          cmasching@geiconsultants.com

RPR/Lead Inspector, GEI:   Thomas Daigle, P.G.       tdaigle@geiconsultants.com

Project Manager, CWCB:  Derek Johnson, P.E.        derek.r.johnson@state.co.us

Project Manager, SEMA:  Thomas Saele, P.E.        tsaele@semaconstruction.com

Project Supervisor, SEMA:  Ken Grossman              kgrossman@semaconstruction.com

Quality Assurance Testing:  Terracon

Blasting:  Rock Solid Solutions

Site Security:  Evergreen Security and Patrol          303-674-2288

District Counsel:  Richard Toussaint                rtoussaint@tnclaw.com

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests/Clear Creek/Idaho Springs Ranger Station     303-567-3000

Clear Creek County Sheriff:    303-569-3232 to request assistance or file a report      Main office:  303-679-2300

 

 

Bidding Phase Results: 

At the April 11^th Regular Board Meeting of the Lookout Mountain Water District, the Board selected SEMA Construction, Inc. as the general contractor for the Upper Beaver Brook Spillway Improvements Project.  Nine contractors submitted bids, which were opened at the public bid opening and special meeting on April 8^th.  The Board completed its review and analysis on April 11^th, and by unanimous vote, the Board accepted the bid provided by SEMA Construction, Inc. including all alternatives and unit pricing (if needed).  The Contract was issued in May and the Notice to Proceed was issued for June 1, 2016.

UBB Spillway Project Pre-bid slide show

 

 

 

Election – May 3, 2016

LMWD Notice of Cancellation (SD-11)

LMWD Call for Nominations (SD-6)

LMWD Election Resolution (SD-5)

Information about this election will be posted and published as required by Election Laws.  Postings on this page of the website are for convenience only.

Please read documents above for information and instructions pertaining to this election.

The election has been cancelled–see notice above.

Rate Study, Proposed Rates & Fees and 2016 Budget

Please Go to Budget Page and scroll to 2016 Budget for this content.

Rate Study Cover Letter

Construction of path 2015 near Genesee overpass (CDOT)

See below for the public announcements.  The District’s distribution water main originally had a proximity conflict with this project, but the District’s engineer worked with CDOT to successfully resolve it so that it would not impact the District’s customers or create water outages.

CDOT Bike Path Quarterly Update

Hamilton_I70 Bike Path-Bridge Genesee Email

Lower Beaver Brook Dam

Unusually sustained precipitation coupled with normal spring snowmelt in the Beaver Brook Watershed has resulted in higher than normal flows in Beaver Brook.   The State Engineer’s Dam Safety Branch requires monitoring under certain conditions, including extreme weather events, higher than normal flows through the Lower Beaver Brook dam spillway and a higher than normal pool level.  Under the Dam’s existing Emergency Action Plan, the Lower Beaver Brook Dam is currently being monitored at a Level 1.  This is a precautionary Level and does not indicate deteriorating conditions to the dam itself.  The dam’s crest is not designed to “overflow” or “overtop” and overtopping should be avoided.  If the spillway cannot adequately pass an unexpectedly large flow, the dam crest could be “overtopped.”  The District is doing everything possible to maintain dam safety under the Emergency Action Plan and is in compliance with the State Engineer’s direction.

The District had a window of time between the first heavy rains on Tuesday and the expected precipitation later in the week in which sand bags were placed to increase the freeboard (freeboard is the distance between the pool level and the dam crest).  Having more freeboard creates a greater margin in order to avoid an overtopping.  The sand bags do not alter the amount of water that can be stored on a permanent basis, nor control the water entering or leaving the spillway.  The extra barrier provides a safety buffer, and would serve to channel water in the pool toward the spillway at approximately the same rate as the inflowing beaver brook water, should the water pool reach the original dam crest elevation.

Recent events have caused concern to residents in Beaver Brook Canyon, especially those who experienced flood damage in September of 2013.  In 2013, types of damage included culverts that were overwhelmed, severe damage to bridges, damage to structures, and severe damage to public and private roads and driveways; utilities were also damaged and access to property was restricted.  The District had over $100,000 in property damage and many thousands of dollars of other types of mitigation costs.  During the extreme weather events in 2013, the Lower Beaver Brook Dam was also monitored at a Level 1.  The County as a whole was included in the federally declared disaster areas in Colorado and FEMA became part of our everyday conversation.

We have chosen to be located in a natural “funnel” at the bottom of a 5,120 acre drainage basin, known as Beaver Brook Watershed.  We often find ourselves worried about water shortages, but this time it is the opposite.  Fortunately, this time around residents are more informed and aware, and some property has been improved during or after the 2013 flood mitigation occurred, and can now withstand greater flows within Beaver Brook.

Special Meetings in April

A Hearing (4/13/2015) and a Meeting for Lateral Representatives (4/29/2015) are scheduled.

NOTIFICATION OF SPECIAL MEETINGS 2015

 

Notice of Hearing to Change Fees

The Fees will be reviewed and changes may be made at the March 9th Regular Meeting.

The Board will be considering making changes to Fees (non-usage related), but does not intend on reviewing or changing water rates.

Specifically, the Board will be reviewing fees related to exclusion and inclusion from and to the District boundaries.

Water Outage and Main Repair Jan 13th

A main break was discovered today at about 12 pm. near Lookout Mountain Rd. near Larkspur.  The repair is underway and may last for up 6 to 8 hours.

Outages will be system-wide and affect any customers whose lines are to the north of the isolation valve at Colorow and Lookout Mountain Rd.

When service returns, water may be cloudy, discolored or bubbly for several days.

Budget Notices 2015 and 2014–Amended

NOTICE OF BUDGET

 

Notice is hereby given that a proposed budget for the ensuing year of 2015 has been submitted to the Board of Directors of Lookout Mountain Water District; that a copy of such budget has been filed in the office of the Lookout Mountain Water District at 1202 Bergen Parkway, Ste. 200, Evergreen, 80439, where same is open for public inspection; and that such proposed budget will be considered for approval at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors to be held at Highland Rescue Team Station, 317 S. Lookout Mountain Road, on Monday, November 10, 2014, at 8:30 a.m.

 

Any interested elector of the District may inspect the proposed budget and file or register any objections thereto at any time prior to final adoption of the budget.

 

/s/

Christina Shea

Secretary

NOTICE OF BUDGET AMENDMENT

 

Notice is hereby given that a proposed budget amendment for the year of 2014 has been submitted to the Board of Directors of Lookout Mountain Water District; that a copy of such budget has been filed in the office of the Lookout Mountain Water District at 1202 Bergen Parkway, Ste. 200, Evergreen, 80439, where same is open for public inspection; and that such proposed budget amendment will be considered for approval at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors to be held at Highland Rescue Team Station, 317 S. Lookout Mountain Road, on Monday, November 10, 2014, at 8:30 a.m.

 

Any interested elector of the District may inspect the proposed budget amendment and file or register any objections thereto at any time prior to final adoption of the budget.

 

/s/

Christina Shea

Secretary

Scheduled Water Outages – July 14 and 16, 2014

The water outage which was cancelled for Thursday, July 10 has been rescheduled for Monday, July 14.  The outage will last from 8:00 AM until 5:00+ PM.  The Transmission Main from the Highland Rescue Team Station (317 S. Lookout Mountain Rd.) to the east boundary of the District will be shut down.

There will be a second water interruption on Wednesday July 16.  This Wednesday outage will only be WITHIN the PARADISE HILLS SUBDIVISION.

Customers may or may not notice:

•  A loss of water for a part or all of this time 

•  Low pressure for a part or all of this time

• Bubbly or white water during or after the outage due to introduction of air into the lines

• Factors which effect the impact of the outage:

  • location of your tap

  • total consumption of water during the shut-off

  • duration of the repair

• This outage is due to a large project and may not occur exactly as planned.

Please prepare for the outage by cooking, watering and bathing before or after the planned times.

• The night before, consider setting aside several pitchers, bowls or buckets as needed by your household for drinking water, culinary needs or toilet flushing by hand.

 

 

 

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