Bear Creek Lake Park, operated by the City of Lakewood, Colorado, sits just outside Denver. Among the park amenities are three lakes, 2,600 acres of parkland, and 15 miles of dirt trails.

An integral part of the park, the Coyote Gulch watershed, was realigned in 1982 with the construction of the Mount Carbon Dam. The gulch flows into Bear Creek Lake between the dam and the park’s boat launch facility. The new, steeper configuration caused water to travel at a greater velocity, and urbanization upstream produced a higher volume of base flow entering the gulch, creating instability, poor water quality, and dangerous levels of erosion and channel degradation. This created hazardous conditions for visitors and reduced the quality of water entering Bear Creek Lake.

The Urban Drainage and Flood Control District retained Ayres Associates to provide civil engineering design and hydraulic services and to assemble a team of geotechnical, environmental, and landscaping professionals to meet the project’s objectives. Ayres Associates’ staff effectively managed the interests of all parties involved while successfully developing a plan to control erosion and improve water quality in Coyote Gulch and Bear Creek Lake.