The Evergreen Lake Dredge Project will start on May 9th and is scheduled to finish by mid-September. Initially, crews will be dredging from shore using a long reach excavator. After a few weeks of operations, a 30-by-80-foot barge will be set into the channel above Evergreen Lake. The barge will be used as a platform for a trackhoe that will remove 12,000 cubic yards of silt that piled up after the September 2013 flooding. The dredging will be concentrated on the north side near the Lakepoint Center, where Bear Creek flows into Evergreen Lake. Operators will use “turbidity curtains” to prevent suspended sediments from spreading out to the rest of the lake. The dewatered silt will be transported by dump trucks to the former EDS transfer station on Highway 73. Denver Mountain Parks, which owns the property, will bring in soil and reseed with natural grasses at a later date.
The dredging operations will require closures and restrictions to public access at Evergreen Lake. These restrictions have been coordinated with Evergreen Parks and Recreation District, Denver Mountain Parks and the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife.
The parking lot on the north side of the lake will be closed to public use during dredge operations. The parking area will be secured and used for dredge operation equipment and temporary offices. The public will be required to use alternate parking areas at the Lake House, Dedisse Park or the small parking lot below Evergreen dam. Please do not park on the shoulder of Upper Bear Creek Road. Parking at the Lake Point Center is for mall customers only.
The walking trail on the north side of the lake will be closed from Lake Point Center east to Evergreen Lake Dam for the duration of the project. The public is being asked to avoid the area during weekday operations. Construction activity is scheduled from 7:00 AM to 6:00PM Monday through Friday.
Boats and other water craft are being warned not to approach any equipment including barges, buoys and turbidity curtains.
CPW stated that they might curtail stocking of fish in Evergreen Lake this summer. With access to the north shore restricted, that means fewer fisherman on the lake. Increased turbidity caused by the dredging will not affect drinking water quality, but may make the waters a bit murky for fishing and other lake activities.
