I prepared and sent this letter about Bear Creek Lake to the US Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of our Chapter.

June 2, 2022

Re: Request for Scoping Comments on the Bear Creek Dam and Reservoir Water Reallocation Study

Response to Scoping Comments, Bear-Creek-Study
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha| District
ATTN: CENWO-PMA-C (Bear-Creek-Study)
1616 Capitol Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102.

Chris Fassero
Project Manager
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Aaron Quinn
Chief, Environmental & Cultural Resources
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

To Whom it may concern:

On behalf of the Evergreen Colorado Audubon Society Chapter, I am writing this letter to address the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Corps) completion of a Water Reallocation Study for the Bear Creek Dam and Reservoir located in Lakewood, Colorado. We understand that the purpose of the study is to determine the feasibility of reallocating storage in the Bear Creek Reservoir for municipal and industrial (M&I) purposes.

We urge the Corps of Engineers to take no federal action, which means no change from current use. We understand that non-federal entities would then have to implement most likely alternatives to meet water demand. We believe that the Bear Creek Dam and Reservoir reallocation would have a severe detrimental effect on the ability of our community members to use the Bear Creek Lake Park for social, recreational, and environmental justice issues, as we outline below.

The Bear Creek Lake Reallocation Project, if completed as proposed, will increase the Bear Creek Reservoir to more than ten times its current volume and inundate 493 acres of Bear Creek Lake Park that is home to resident and migratory species of birds and wildlife, as well as other biological resources, including pollinators. All of these species are experiencing significant declines throughout the US and particularly in Colorado.

The 20,000-acre feet expansion would inundate nearly 500 acres of trails and over a mile of Bear Creek.  Cottonwood trees along Bear and Turkey Creek would be removed, destroying significant stretches of riparian habitat.  These inner regions of the park, where the surrounding highways are not seen or heard, will be destroyed. As our local population increases and visits to our parks increase as well, it becomes more difficult to find areas set aside to experience nature. We do not want to lose Bear Creek Lake Park.

Your own statements recognize the problem you will cause:

“Impacts to recreational resources could significantly affect character of Bear Creek Lake Park. Although impacts must be mitigated, maintaining park’s overall character (e.g., land-based vs. water based) may be difficult.”

The Reallocation would cause substantial changes/damage to terrestrial-based recreation at Bear Creek Lake Park.  This is a well-known birdwatching site, featured in the book The Best Front Range Bird Hikes by Norm Lewis (Golden, CO:  The Colorado Mountain Club Press, 2021), p. 115-121.  The Bear Creek Valley has also been designated as an Audubon state Important Bird Area or IBA.  “Two hundred twenty different bird species have been found in the corridor. Of these, 153 species, about 55%, are neotropical migrants. Observations have confirmed that 95 of the species breed in the Bear Creek corridor. Teams have observed 167 of the species in specific habitats and for levels of breeding and abundance during the migrating and breeding seasons.” (https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/bear-creek-valley)

Attached find a list of uncommon birds seen in Bear Creek Lake Park.

The potential level of impacts of such a Reallocation require that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) should prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) rather than an Environmental Assessment.

• The estimated Safe Yield or Firm Yield of the project should be included in the description of the affected environment.   The calculation “average yield” does not give that same information and is not the standard for water project discussion.   Please do not use it.

• Several public hearings should be held once the EIS is available in draft form, in the area around Bear Creek Reservoir and in Evergreen, as the Evergreen Audubon Society has been monitoring wildlife species and bird populations on the whole Bear Creek watershed and conducts regular field trips to Bear Creek Lake Park.

• Alternatives are “the heart of the NEPA process” according to the Council on Environmental Quality.   The USACE should take a very hard look at alternatives to the expansion of the reservoir. Municipalities, including those interested in acquiring water stored in Bear Creek Lake, are already reducing their local consumption by citizens.

• Consider strongly the impact that the use of water in oil and gas fracking operations is having on the increased need for water claimed by the Front Range communities, especially along the I70 north corridor.

We are especially concerned that the water to be stored in Bear Creek Lake, with the accompanying total destruction of the environment, will be used to supply water for oil and gas fracking operations.

For example, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has received a petition from Extraction Oil and Gas, Inc. (docket number 211100222, the Warbler Pad location). This operator is requesting to withdraw 7.05 million barrels of water from the local Neres Canal, one of the two water sources to be used by the proposed well.

The following information summarizes water usage during Operations on the

Operator’s Warbler Pad.  

• Water will be sourced and withdrawn from the Neres Canal, a Water of the United States

• Total Volume of Water Needed – 7.05 million bbls, including Drilling – 44,000 bbls (2,000 bbls/well x 22 wells).  Completions – 7.0 million bbls (22 wells; 351k/Nio & 231k/Cdl)

• Operator has a contract to purchase water at the above-captioned location from the

following water provider: Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company (FRICO), 80 S 27th Ave, Brighton, CO 80601

We believe that the water required for this operation is an underestimation of the water that will actually be used. We also believe that this water usage is typical of every fracking operation on the Front Range of Colorado, affecting thousands of wells. Note that the water used in fracking is contaminated with dangerous chemicals and is never returned to the environment for use, but is buried miles deep, hopefully out of the reach of future generations.

We are concerned, therefore, that the water to come from a severely damaged Bear Creek Lake Park will not be used to supply drinking water and agricultural water to Brighton or other Front Range communities. Rather, this water will be sold to oil and gas companies and robbed from the local communities.

We ask specifically that the ACOE investigate the proposed use of the “needed water” in the municipalities to ensure that it is not being used to raise money rather than used for the people living in those communities.

Given the extreme drought being experienced in Colorado, we believe that water should be first carefully conserved. For example, Denver has grown by about 21% in the past decades, but water use has declined by 19% due to conservation measures.   

And that water should not be used in fracking operations that forever make it unpalatable and unavailable. We urge the ACOE to ensure that the intent of the expanded pool in Bear Creek Lake will never be used for fracking operations and to evaluate this possible use in is Environmental Impact Assessment.

This concludes these comments.  Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Scoping process for Bear Creek Reservoir Reallocation.

JoAnn T Hackos, PhD
Conservation Committee Chairperson
Evergreen Audubon
Evergreen, CO 80439
Tel. 303-898-5163
conservation@evergreenaudubon.org