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The Bear Creek Lake Reallocation Feasibility Study is investigating the potential impacts of adding a water storage component to to Bear Creek Reservoir in Lakewood, Colorado. Initial alternatives included a tenfold increase in volume, from 2,000 acre-feet to 22,000 acre-feet (af). Current alternatives include a 300 af increase and a 6,000 af increase. We strongly support the 300 af increase as it would have no significant impact on the Park and would provide needed water storage to small, local interests (not developers). However, we STRONGLY OPPOSE 6,000 af of additional water storage due to the highly destructive impacts it would bring to Bear Creek Lake Park.
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As you can see, just over half a mile each of Bear and Turkey Creeks would be consumed by a 6,000 af expansion.
Background: The Bear Creek Dam and Reservoir Project was completed in 1977 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for the purpose of flood control. The City of Lakewood has managed Bear Creek Lake Park pursuant to a lease with the Corps since 1982. In 2015, The Colorado Water Plan set a goal to increase statewide water storage by 400,000 acre feet. The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) requested a study to determine whether storage capacity in Bear Creek Lake could be reallocated from Flood Control to Water Supply.
In September of 2021, the CWCB and the Corps decided to move forward with the Bear Creek Lake Reallocation Feasibility Study. As of November 2025, the Study is nearing the end of the Public Scoping Phase. Many local residents assume the project would provide water to new development in Lakewood, but that is not the case. The City of Brighton is the primary entity seeking storage in Bear Creek Lake.
Considerations include flood risk, environmental impacts, recreational impacts and community well-being. A 6,000 acre-feet expansion would reduce the land acreage in the Park by nearly 200 acres and inundate over a mile of Bear and Turkey Creeks. Thousands of cottonwood trees along Bear and Turkey Creek would be removed, destroying critical riparian habitat.
Expanding the reservoir will not result in “just a bigger lake” for water-based recreation. The water level in the reservoir would fluctuate, and the full volume of 6,000 af would not be available every year. After stored water is drawn out of the reservoir, mud flats would remain until the next higher water year. In drought scenarios, these barren regions could persist for years.
How much of this precious community and environmental resource must we sacrifice to accommodate growth and development in other regions of the state? Lower-impact alternatives exist which could provide additional water storage while preserving the irreplaceable assets of the Park and its ecosystem. Offsite storage alternatives include repurposing sand and gravel pits to serve as water storage reservoirs. Water Education Colorado estimated that 10,000 acre feet of storage potential is created every year through gravel mining along the South Platte. Many such reservoirs are already in use, much closer to the City of Brighton. https://www.watereducationcolorado.org/publications-and-radio/headwaters-magazine/spring-2021-storage/south-platte-reclaiming-gravel-pits-as-reservoirs/
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are coordinating on the Study. CWCB’s website for this project is here: https://cwcb.colorado.gov/bearcreeklake
Lakewood also has a webpage with helpful information here: https://www.lakewood.org/Government/Departments/Community-Resources/Projects/Bear-Creek-Reservoir-expansion-proposal
