In our last blog on the history of Rueter-Hess Reservoir, we discussed Parker Water and Sanitation District’s (PWSD) purchase of the farms in Logan County to provide the pathway to the Section 404 permit for Rueter-Hess Reservoir. Based on the work completed for the Environmental Impact Statement, PWSD obtained a Section 404 permit and Record of Decision on February 23, 2004. Since PWSD was the sole application in the original NEPA action, only the purpose and need for PWSD could be demonstrated. As such, while the dam site could accommodate a reservoir of approximately 75,000 acre-feet (ac-ft), the permit only allowed a dam size that had a maximum storage capacity of 16,200 ac-ft, the demonstrated need of PWSD in the early 2000s.

Joint Operating Agreement

However, within 3 months after receiving its Section 404 permit, other water supply entities - including the Town of Castle Rock, Stonegate Metropolitan District, and Castle Pines North Metropolitan District - approached PWSD about the possibility of obtaining storage in Rueter-Hess Reservoir. With this additional purpose and need associated with other water supply entities, PWSD entered into a second NEPA action by submitting a new, enlarged application to the USACE that demonstrated the purpose and need for the full size Rueter-Hess Reservoir. The second Section 404 permit was approved by the UACE on April 11, 2008.

Based on there being multiple entities with the potential for storage in Rueter-Hess Reservoir, a Joint Operating Agreement was signed on January 25, 2008, which identified specific criteria related to storage, including pro-rata shares of infrastructure use, future capital and operations and maintenance costs, and water quality requirements. The Agreement also established an Operating Committee for operations at the reservoir. Subsequently, an Intergovernmental Agreement for storage in Rueter-Hess Reservoir was executed on August 26, 2008 with each of the three entities, with Castle Rock receiving 8,000 ac-ft of storage, Castle Pines North receiving 1,500 ac-ft of storage, and Stonegate receiving 1,200 ac-ft of storage.

Construction

Based on the approval of the first Section 404 permit, construction of the dam began. Photo 1 (left) shows the core trench in the dam being constructed, while Photo 2 (center) shows the construction of the emergency spillway. The outlet tower was designed for all releases from Rueter-Hess Reservoir, and the construction of the outlet tower is shown in Photo 3 (right).

During the construction phase, the entrance to the historic Muldoon Mine was exposed. The Muldoon Mine was part of the historic Newlin Gulch Gold Mining District that was operational in the late 1800s. The district was composed of multiple placer claims, although there were never large quantities of gold discovered. And mining was limited due to the lack of water! For more information on the Newlin Gulch Gold Mining District see the Parker Area Historical Society.

In late 2006, I was given a personal tour of the remains of the mine shaft with Mr. Doug Voss, the construction manager at Rueter-Hess. Photo 4 (top) shows the entrance to the Muldoon Mine, which was on the western side of the reservoir area, while Photo 5 (bottom) shows the remains of the main tunnel.

Coming up next: The final construction of the dam and the filling of Rueter-Hess Reservoir!

Stay tuned!

If you need any help with developing new or supplemental water supplies, whether surface water or groundwater, LWS can help. Please give us a call (303-350-4090) or an email.

Bruce Lytle bruce@lytlewater.com

Chris Fehn chris@lytlewater.com

Ben Bader ben@lytlewater.com

Anna Elgqvist anna@lytlewater.com

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