KUSA - It’s the power of nature, pushed through five narrow gates.
“This year, we’re doing our larger flush,” said Joe Maxwell of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
On Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers released nearly 50 million gallons of water through the five gates at the Cherry Creek dam. The water moved at speeds of 1,300 cubic feet per second.
“So, if you think about that, that’s about 1,300 basketball-sized water coming out per second,” Maxwell said.
The Corps does this every other year. It is designed to remove sediment that could otherwise block the release of water from the reservoir, which is part of the flood control system that protects parts of the metro area.
“We want to make sure this dam that we have that was built for flood control is functioning as it was designed,” Maxwell said. “And so our goal is to make sure that we clear that sediment, to make sure that those gates will function properly as designed.”
Downstream from the Cherry Creek reservoir, water levels along Cherry Creek were expected to rise, with water covering some of the low-lying spots along the trail.
“The best thing about the walk is, you don’t have to deal with traffic and you can go on your lunch hour and get some good exercise in,” said Brian Crawley, who was walking the trail on his lunch hour.
Crawley took advantage of the dry trail, before the water rose.
“I have concern for my walk,” he said. “I’ve got to get my exercise in.”
While the water's rise would be gradual, the Army Corps warned people not to try to make their way through it.
“There’s certainly areas that you can’t get through and we would encourage you not to go through those areas,” Maxwell said.
The Corps stopped releasing water around noon on Wednesday. The water was expected to take six hours to reach downtown Denver. They said water levels along the creek were expected to recede by that evening.
