Gross Reservoir Expansion Project
Construction
The Gross Reservoir Expansion Project will undergo approximately three years of design followed by four years of construction.
Primary dam construction is anticipated to last two construction seasons, a total of 18 months. During this time, work at the construction site will often be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The project involves the raising of the existing 340 foot tall Gross Dam by an additional 131 feet to create the new larger reservoir and additional storage. Based on the concept design, once complete, Gross Reservoir will be the tallest dam in Colorado and will contain about 1.5 million cubic yards of concrete, about half the volume of Hoover Dam.
Technically Speaking
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District Regulatory Branch, prepared an Environmental Impact Statement beginning in 2003 to analyze environmental effects of enlarging the existing Gross Reservoir (near Boulder, Colorado) to supply 18,000 acre-feet per year new firm yield of water to its Moffat Collection System. On July 6th 2017, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved Denver Water’s request to raise Gross Dam in Boulder County.
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Latest News / Blog
Denver Water hires contractor for Gross Reservoir Expansion Project
HydroWorld.com – July 11, 2019 – “This is a major milestone in our 16-year effort to expand Gross Reservoir, as its original designers intended decades ago, to ensure a more reliable water supply in a future marked by greater uncertainty in weather patterns,” said...
read moreControversy over Denver Water’s Gross Reservoir expansion offers a glimpse into water woes in the West
Colorado Sun – July 10, 2019 – "Denver Water has a long history of securing water before there’s a crisis,” said Patty Limerick, director of the CU Boulder’s Center for the American West and former Colorado Historian. “The Gross Reservoir expansion is a perfect...
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