As John Sikora, AECOM Water Resources Engineer, shared his presentation about construction of the Colorado River Connectivity Project in the Upper Colorado River system, members were stunned by the enormous complexity of the project and the intelligent engineering that went into its design and creation. This specific diversion project at Windy Gap was built to pump water into Lake Granby when it is "called for" by existing water contracts with communities up River as well as on the Front Range. As I understood John's detailed and technical presentation, this diversion enhances the aquatic habitat for fish and all other animal species that are part of that food chain.
The nature of water management has changed in the past 30 years as water engineers have learned more about what makes a healthy ecosystem that will thrive and grow, as well as provide water for human users. Now we know that sediment is important to a river's health so there must be ways to address allow sediment to pass through the water that exits a dam, not be trapped by it. With the aid of sophisticated computers that provide hydraulic modeling, engineers can test out their designs and modify them to address potential problems BEFORE they build them. And earth moving and construction equipment that is GPS enabled allow the plans to change during construction and immediately be transmitted to the equipment to achieve immediate results. That's huge cost savings in time and money, as well as getting the build right the first time!
The $33 million project was supported by a huge number of municipalities as well as some private corporations; a real example of cooperative support! In addition to building the diversion "river" that replicates natural river behavior, the AECOM team also restored over 90 acres of land, planting 15,000 trees and shrubs to ensure the health of the entire ecosystem. Early evaluations of the new channel by CPW staff show evidence of stone flies upon which the trout and sculpin feed, as well as the eagles and hawks returning to his impressive space.
Thanks to Joe Mueller for bringing John and helping us learn about how effectively water is being managed in collaboration with the environment. And to John for helping make complex engineering more understandable. Any errors in this summary are my own and not those of the presenter!