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Elkhead Reservoir Enlargement Project
Former capacity: 13,800 acre-feet Enlarged capacity: 25,550 acre-feet
[An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons]
Cost: $31 millionOld dam elevation: 6,378 feet
New dam elevation: 6,403 feet
For additional background information visit: Reports
Learn about recreational and camping opportunities at Elkhead Reservoir
Craig Chamber of Commerce
Yampa State Park
About Elkhead Reservoir
Located a short 9-mile drive northeast of the City of Craig, Colo., on County Road 29 and straddling the Moffat Routt County line is one of northwest Colorado's premier flat-water recreational hot spots.
Elkhead Reservoir was originally constructed in 1974 by the Division of Wildlife (DOW) and the Yampa Participants, a consortium of power providers, as an earthen-fill dam with a total capacity of 13,700 acre feet (AF) of water for industrial and recreational use. Elkhead Reservoir is an on-stream reservoir on Elkhead Creek a major tributary of the Yampa River.
The watershed upstream of Elkhead drains a 205-square mile basin with a mean annual volume of 75,000 AF and peak flows of up to 2,500 cubic feet per second (cfs). The State of Colorado Water Quality Control Division currently classifies Elkhead Reservoir for the following uses Aquatic Life Cold I, Recreation E, Water Supply and Agricultural.
The original construction allocated 8,310 AF for cooling water for the Craig Station Power Plant and 5,390 AF for a recreational pool. Elkhead Reservoir has long been known by locals as a great sport fishery which has lead to one of its most difficult management issues - more on this later.
In 1990 the City of Craig entered into a transfer agreement with the DOW and acquired the dam and reservoir. Currently after the 2006 enlargement, maintenance and operation is shared between the City of Craig and the Colorado River Water Conservation District (River District), and the recreation facilities are managed by State Parks.
In 1979 the National Dam Safety Program determined the spillway hydraulically inadequate to bypass the probable maximum flood (PMF). Between 1979 and 1990 several enlargement/hydraulic studies were conducted as Elkhead Reservoir was always a good candidate for enlargement and the original facilities needed updating.
Several years of assessment of the potential human demand and the actual need for flow augmentation for the endangered fish resulted in the 2006 enlargement to create more human supply and 5,000 acre-feet of storage for endangered fish flow management. Construction of the enlargement took two years and was completed in 2006 at a total project cost of $31 million dollars.
The enlargement required raising the height of the dam 25 feet raising the normal pool 20 feet creating 11,956 acre feet of new storage; new outlet works and tower with an outlet capacity of 550 cfs, and a new labyrinth weir and spillway capable of conveying discharges up to 25,000 cfs.
Uniquely, the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program invested $13.6 million, including $6.5 million from the State of Colorado Native Species Conservation Fund, in storage in Elkhead Reservoir to assist with flow management on the Yampa River. Unlike other Colorado River tributaries, the Yampa River has no federal or other large storage to reprogram for flow enhancement in the effort to recover these endangered fish.
The Recovery Program is designed to protect the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, the boneytail and the razorback sucker in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The other 6,750 AF of the enlargement is allocated for future water needs in the Yampa River Basin and funded by $17.3 million from the Colorado River District, which is partially financed through a construction loan with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). Two-thousand acre feet of this pool is currently leased to the Recovery Program for 20 years. The varied ownership and uses of water stored in Elkhead Reservoir creates some unique management issues, none more important than the competition between the resident sport fish within the reservoir and the endangered fish downstream.
A major component of the planning and design of the enlargement had to clearly address containment of the resident sport fish within Elkhead Reservoir. Resident sport fish in Elkhead consist primarily of warm-water species like northern pike and smallmouth bass; however, the DOW does stock rainbow trout as a put and take species. Competition from non-native species has adverse impacts on the recruitment and restoration of the endangered fish population. Pike and bass are known to prey on the endangered fish in the river.
The recreational resource value of sport fishing in the area was deemed a valuable asset to the public and needed to be maintained. In order to maintain these seemingly opposing management goals, a means of containment for nonnative species in the reservoir is included. The Elkhead fish separation project was born and an advisory committee formed to evaluate the most effective means to achieve fish separation.
In the end a combination of the labyrinth weir design and stainless steel fish screens on the outlet works were recommended. The fish screens are equipped with a self cleaning pneumatic blower system to help prevent debris from clogging the screens. The construction of the fish screens alone added $750, 000 in costs to the enlargement which was funded by the Recovery Program in addition to the purchase price of the storage. Nonnative sport fish are not the only management concerns at Elkhead Reservoir.
The project also benefited from a $1.5 million CWCB mitigation grant which was shared by the River District and the Recovery Program to meet the other mitigation requirements such as wetlands impacts.
Like most reservoirs in the state Elkhead Reservoir has instituted a boat inspection program to help prevent the spread of the invasive Zebra and quagga mussels. An infestation of these mussels could prove problematic to the effectiveness of the fish screens and severely limit outflow capacity and raise operating costs for divers to scrape the screens.
Operating and maintaining reservoirs in today's environmental climate requires cooperation and sometimes complex solutions in order to achieve management goals. In the world of reservoirs Elkhead may seem small in size but is large in management complexity. Next time you find yourself in northwest Colorado looking to do some boating or fishing be sure to visit Elkhead Reservoir.
Links to other agencies and organizations involved in Elkhead Reservoir can be found on the Weblinks page.
For the latest information about the enlargement project, contact River District engineer Ray Tenney at (970) 945-8522, ext. 220, or by e-mail.
Weblinks Relating to Elkhead Reservoir
The following is a list of other agencies and organizations that are involved with, or have interest in the expansion of Elkhead Reservoir.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program
Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program
Colorado Division of Wildlife
Yampa River State Park/ Elkhead Reservoir
City of Craig
Craig Chamber of Commerce
Yampa River Basin Partnership
Figure 5 - Outlet Works for Profile for Drained Reservoir Alternative 1 and Lower Reservoir Alternative 2
Elkhead Hydrology Report
Elkhead Hydrology Figures
Yampa Valley Water Demand Study
Feasibility Evaluation of Non-Native Fish Control Structures
Fish Separation Preliminary Design Report
Yampa River Basin Management Plan
Environmental Assessment and Appendices
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program
Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program
Colorado Division of Wildlife
Yampa River State Park/ Elkhead Reservoir
City of Craig
Craig Chamber of Commerce
Yampa River Basin Partnership
Elkhead Dam/Reservoir Hydrology Reports:
Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation Elkhead Dam
Appendix A: Field Investigations
Appendix B: Geophysical Survey
Appendix C: Laboratory Test Results
Construction Alternatives
Figure 1 - Site Plan
Figure 2 - Typical Embankment Raise Section
Figure 3 - Embankment Plan for Alternatives
Figure 4 - Outlet Works Elevation for Alternatives
Figure 5 - Outlet Works for Profile for Drained Reservoir Alternative 1 and Lower Reservoir Alternative 2
Elkhead Hydrology Report Elkhead Hydrology Figures
Yampa Valley Water Demand Study
Feasibility Evaluation of Non-Native Fish Control Structures
Fish Separation Preliminary Design Report
Yampa River Basin Management Plan
Environmental Assessment and Appendices
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