HOME PROJECT AREA PROJECT SCHEDULE MEETINGS CONTACTS
Under the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District’s Master Planning Program, stormwater planning studies are periodically conducted to assess detention, water quality, and drainageway needs in watersheds across the Denver metro area. This watershed was previously studied as part of the 1995 Dry Gulch OSP.

The North Dry Gulch Watershed is located along the Colfax corridor within the City of Lakewood, Colorado. Through the years, development along Colfax has eliminated the natural channel. Currently, storm runoff from this highly developed watershed is conveyed by a combination of limited capacity storm sewers and poorly defined overland flow paths within streets and parking lots. As a result, many commercial properties lie within the 100-year floodplain (see project area map).

Recent planning efforts by the City of Lakewood highlight the project area. The West Colfax Avenue Action Plan and West Corridor Light Rail Station Plans at Wadsworth Boulevard and Lamar Street provide a vision and guiding principles for redevelopment within the watershed; however, the floodplain issues present a significant hurdle to achieving these visions. A primary focus of this study, therefore, is to identify and apply a palette of solutions that will limit the 100-year floodplain and potentially make North Dry Gulch an amenity.  Through various combinations of open channel and closed conduit solutions, the palette of solutions will focus not only on the engineering, but also on the urban design and redevelopment potential of this vibrant Lakewood corridor.     

Though the watershed boundaries extend as far north as 25th Avenue and as far west as Kipling Street, the plan will concentrate on the section between the Charles Whitlock Recreation Center at Dover Street and the downstream limit at Harlan Street, where North Dry Gulch empties into Dry Gulch. The Outfall Systems Plan process includes an update of the watershed hydrology; development and evaluation of alternate drainage improvements; selection of a preferred alternative; and preliminary design of the preferred alternative including estimated costs. The completed study will serve as a guide for implementing drainage improvements within the watershed.

Project deliverables will include a Baseline Hydrology Report, an Alternatives Evaluation (Phase A) Report, and a Conceptual Design (Phase B) Report. The following reports are available for download:

Document Status Date File
Baseline Hydrology Report Final January 2011 PDF (8.0 MB)

The project is funded by the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD) and the City of Lakewood. Muller Engineering Company, Inc. was selected to complete the study with the assistance of Design Concepts Community and Landscape Architects.