Cherry Creek Trail Will Flood for Maintenance Today

Don’t try to hang out near Cherry Creek in Aurora and Denver today, May 21.

In order to conduct maintenance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing over twice the normal amount of water from Cherry Creek Dam, which will make the area around the Creek, including the Cherry Creek Trail used by cyclists, unsafe.

The federal government owns and operates the Cherry Creek Dam in Aurora, which controls the flow of water to Cherry Creek itself. Along with the Cherry Creek Dam, USACE operates the Chatfield and Bear Creek dams to reduce the risk of flooding in and around Denver.

Once a year, USACE needs to release more water than normal from those dams to flush collected sediment out of the water so the dams’ outlet gates can operate effectively, according to the Army Corps.

“In the interest of public safety, the public should not attempt to cross or access Cherry Creek on May 21,” USACE says in a public safety notice. “Higher flush releases may cause minor flooding at low-level crossings or access points downstream of the dam, including bike paths.

The Cherry Creek Trail runs from Confluence Park in downtown Denver to Douglas County by way of Cherry Creek State Park, offering forty miles of paved space for cyclists along Cherry Creek. In Denver, much of the trail is below street level next to Speer Boulevard and you can take the path to shop at the Cherry Creek Mall. Pedestrians and scooter users also frequent the trail.

“These annual flushes keep the gates clear of sediment so the gates can operate reliably when needed to help reduce downstream flood risk to people and property in the Denver metropolitan area,” explains Joe Maxwell, operations project manager for the USACE Tri-Lakes projects.

The Army Corps usually releases fewer than 100 cubic feet of water per second from the Cherry Creek Dam, which amounts to 7.5 gallons. During today's maintenance flush, releases across all five of the dam’s main outlet gates will range from zero to 250 cubic feet per second, causing over twice the amount of water to be released than usual at some points during the day.

“The higher releases will take an estimated six hours to reach the Champa Street Bridge downstream of the dam,” USACE adds.

That bridge is near the Denver Performing Arts Complex, so the impact of the maintenance will be felt in downtown Denver as well as upstream closer to the dam itself. Engineers with USACE say that once the flushing is done, releases will return to normal and regular water levels should return around Champa Street by the evening.

However, the plan could shift depending how things go once the project starts, so USACE warns against attempting to access Cherry Creek for the entire day.