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Plan aims to restore degrading Cherry Creek
Urbanization has increased the amount of runoff flowing into Cherry Creek by 5,000 percent, and the increased water is deepening the creek channel and eroding its banks at an unnatural rate.
By By: Sean Hadden
Urbanization has increased the amount of runoff flowing into Cherry Creek by 5,000 percent, and the increased water is deepening the creek channel and eroding its banks at an unnatural rate.
This is the finding of a study presented last week to Parker residents by a representative of the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District.
The Cherry Creek Corridor Major Drainageway Planning Study addresses this and other problems facing the creek and its drainage area.
Another problem is increased pollution entering the creek, said Ben Urbonas of the Urban Drainage Flood Control District.
The increased water flow also means there is more pollution entering the creek, Urbonas, the district's chief master planner, told Parker residents Feb. 26.
"Pollution loads increase because pollution load is proportional to the volume of runoff," Urbonas said.
Urbanization causes such a dramatic increase in runoff because once open land is now covered by streets, sidewalks and buildings that do not absorb precipitation, said Steve Rogers, an engineer with URS Corp., a private design engineering firm.
So all the water that hits these surfaces is collected by city drainage systems and flows directly into the creek, Rogers said. Much of this water used to soak into the ground.
The district hired URS to develop a master plan to restore the creek. Rogers is the engineer in charge of implementing that plan.
The deepening creek channel means that buried utility lines and bridge pilings have become exposed, Urbonas said. And the creek has degraded so much at one location on the line dividing Douglas and Arapahoe counties that a sewer line is exposed.
No sewage is entering the creek but the pipe is exposed, Urbonas said.
And the eroding creek banks mean a lot more sediment is entering the creek, being washed downstream and accumulating in a large delta in front of Cherry Creek Reservoir, he said.
The master plan developed by URS includes five ways to approach the problems facing a degrading Cherry Creek, Urbonas said.
They range from doing something to stop the creek from further damage to an ambitious plan that when finished years from now would restore the creek almost to its natural state.
URS recommends complete restoration, Rogers and Urbonas said. The estimated cost is $30 million.
The cost would be spread between the five municipalities affected by and contributing to Cherry Creek's degradation, Urbonas said. They include Douglas and Arapahoe counties, Parker, Aurora and Centennial.
Under this plan, critical areas of erosion would be stabilized with underground water flow barriers; the water quality of the creek would be enhanced and bank stabilization, enhancement and creation of wetland areas would be done; and enhancement of braided-stream characteristics, the study says.
The next phase of the study is prioritizing the specific projects that must be done first.
Urbonas said this will probably be the construction of about four of the underground flow control barriers to slow the rate at which the creek channel is deepening and its banks are eroding.
This phase of the study should be complete in about seven months, he said.
Once specific projects are chosen for construction, it will be determined which of the five municipalities mentioned above will bear the most cost, Urbonas said.
This will be determined by how much each contributes to the creek's degradation and how much funding each can afford to contribute, he said.
The district can pay for as much as 50 percent of the restoration projects, Urbonas said.
This is the finding of a study presented last week to Parker residents by a representative of the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District.
The Cherry Creek Corridor Major Drainageway Planning Study addresses this and other problems facing the creek and its drainage area.
Another problem is increased pollution entering the creek, said Ben Urbonas of the Urban Drainage Flood Control District.
The increased water flow also means there is more pollution entering the creek, Urbonas, the district's chief master planner, told Parker residents Feb. 26.
"Pollution loads increase because pollution load is proportional to the volume of runoff," Urbonas said.
Urbanization causes such a dramatic increase in runoff because once open land is now covered by streets, sidewalks and buildings that do not absorb precipitation, said Steve Rogers, an engineer with URS Corp., a private design engineering firm.
So all the water that hits these surfaces is collected by city drainage systems and flows directly into the creek, Rogers said. Much of this water used to soak into the ground.
The district hired URS to develop a master plan to restore the creek. Rogers is the engineer in charge of implementing that plan.
The deepening creek channel means that buried utility lines and bridge pilings have become exposed, Urbonas said. And the creek has degraded so much at one location on the line dividing Douglas and Arapahoe counties that a sewer line is exposed.
No sewage is entering the creek but the pipe is exposed, Urbonas said.
And the eroding creek banks mean a lot more sediment is entering the creek, being washed downstream and accumulating in a large delta in front of Cherry Creek Reservoir, he said.
The master plan developed by URS includes five ways to approach the problems facing a degrading Cherry Creek, Urbonas said.
They range from doing something to stop the creek from further damage to an ambitious plan that when finished years from now would restore the creek almost to its natural state.
URS recommends complete restoration, Rogers and Urbonas said. The estimated cost is $30 million.
The cost would be spread between the five municipalities affected by and contributing to Cherry Creek's degradation, Urbonas said. They include Douglas and Arapahoe counties, Parker, Aurora and Centennial.
Under this plan, critical areas of erosion would be stabilized with underground water flow barriers; the water quality of the creek would be enhanced and bank stabilization, enhancement and creation of wetland areas would be done; and enhancement of braided-stream characteristics, the study says.
The next phase of the study is prioritizing the specific projects that must be done first.
Urbonas said this will probably be the construction of about four of the underground flow control barriers to slow the rate at which the creek channel is deepening and its banks are eroding.
This phase of the study should be complete in about seven months, he said.
Once specific projects are chosen for construction, it will be determined which of the five municipalities mentioned above will bear the most cost, Urbonas said.
This will be determined by how much each contributes to the creek's degradation and how much funding each can afford to contribute, he said.
The district can pay for as much as 50 percent of the restoration projects, Urbonas said.
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