Dam

By early 1910, the Denver Reservoir and Irrigation Company had expanded to hold more than 200,000 acres of agricultural land across several irrigation districts north of Denver with options placed on thousands more. It also held a developing system of irrigation canals and reservoirs and acquired the rights to more than 400,000 acre-feet of water on the plains and in the mountains above. Between 1909 and 1912, Thomas Croke served in the Colorado state senate. Although a member of the agriculture and irrigation committee, he could not forestall the financial problems that soon beset the Standley Lake project. With rapid expansion, by 1910, the Denver Reservoir and Irrigation Company had taken on so many ambitious efforts in such a short period that it found itself overextended and short on funds to finish several of its projects.

When work finally resumed in the spring of 1911, the general contract for Standley Lake remained in the hands of the Kenefick Construction Company, whose owner, William Kenefick, helped secure the funding from the French bank. The contract called for the earthwork to be completed by Oct. 1 and the concrete work by the first of December. Under tremendous pressure, Kenefick increased the scale and pace of its effort. Hundreds of laborers were brought from Denver daily to work on the site. Excavators and trains moved remarkably setting records in the heavy construction industry. At the same time the dam was being finished, all the canals, embankments, and laterals had to be prepared to meet the same deadline.

Upon completion, Standley Lake’s earthen dam was reported to be the largest of its kind in the United States and possibly the second largest in the world. Three million cubic yards of soil had been excavated and moved to create a dam wall measuring 700 feet wide at the base, 1.25 miles long, and 113 feet high. The lake was filled with water from Clear Creek, Coal Creek, Ralston Creek, and Leyden Creek, delivered through the Croke (formerly Kinnear) Canal and Church Ditch. Water also entered the lake from the upper reaches of Big Dry Creek and Woman Creek above the reservoir. Additional water was secured from the Farmers High Line Canal. The twin outflow from Standley Lake divided the water below the dam between the Niver Canal and Big Dry Creek.

In 2003/2004, the spillway was constructed. Currently, the reservoir covers approximately 1,063 surface acres, with adjoining land covering an additional 2,000 acres. 42,000 acre-feet of water can be stored when full, with a maximum depth of 96 feet at the dam face. Ninety-six percent of the water comes from Clear Creek via an irrigation ditch. The remaining percent comes from Woman’s Creek and adjacent drainages.

While the public has access to the parkland and recreational use of the lake, the water is used as a municipal water supply and the rights are jointly owned by the cities of Westminster, Thornton, Northglenn, and the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company (FRICO). It is also habitat for a lot of wildlife in Westminster! The dam, which is one mile long, is FRICO property and not accessible to the public.