Cook Lake rehab on schedule

Rehabilitation work on the dam at Cook Lake is proceeding according to schedule, says District Ranger Mike Gosse. The Forest Service expects the project to be complete by November 21.

The popular recreation site was closed down on July 8 to allow the long-planned project at the spillway to begin. Six decades old, the structure was showing significant wear and tear and needed to be replaced to stop leakage and improve the site.

The $1.2 million project aimed to replace the old earthen dam with four six-foot pipes with a concrete spillway that can handle a much larger volume of water in the event of heavy rain or snow melt. Work began in June, when the water level was lowered to allow the dam replacement to begin.

Regular rainfall earlier in the summer did slow the drainage process, but the upper end of the lake was a mud flat by the end of July.

“The Bureau of Reclamation has drained Cook Lake as low as can be pumped. This will greatly assist the State of Wyoming in their efforts to treat the lake to remove the undesirable fish species and enhance the restocking of rainbow trout next spring,” Gosse says.

A significant portion of the necessary work has already been completed, he says.

“Excavation work for the new spillway and stilling basin has been completed and two and a half of the four original six foot wide spillway pipes have been removed,” Gosse says.

“The Bureau of Reclamation has also completed the cast in place concrete construction for the basin floor and about a third of the spillway.”

Future work, says Gosse, will include forming the basin walls and placing the reinforcing steel for the walls, as well as continuation of forming and casting the remaining spillway floor.

Gosse reports that no increase in landslide movement has been observed with the lowered lake level.

“I would like to remind everyone that the Cook Lake Area is still closed to the public for their safety as construction vehicles and cement trucks continue to work on the project,” he says.

“We had one incident of vandalism to the gate at the entrance of the Cook Lake area and it cost the forest over $4000 to repair the damage. We look forward to opening the area again once the project work is completed.”

While the project is ongoing, says Resource Planner Elizabeth Krueger, the community can keep up with construction by visiting https://tinyurl.com/CookLakeProject.