Dam near done

Despite the best efforts of Mother Nature, ongoing work to upgrade the dam at Cook Lake Recreation Area is heading towards completion. Though the weather this year has been particularly irksome for construction, it has only succeeded in creating a minimal delay.

“Moisture this year continues to make working conditions challenging,” agrees District Ranger Mike Gosse.

“In the spring it was all the rain and snow mix and now this fall we are continuing to work through early snow conditions. This has caused the project to be slightly behind schedule, but good progress continues to be made.”

The project involves reconstructing the dam and spillway at the lake. Around 60 years old, the structure was showing wear and tear and allowing leakage.

Around $1.2 million was allocated to the project, which involved replacing the old earthen dam with four six-foot pipes with a concrete spillway. The new structure will be able handle a much larger volume of water in the event of heavy rain or snow melt.

“The Bureau of Reclamation crews finished installing the new precast bridge in the Cook Lake Dam spillway on October 16,” says Gosse.

The final sections of wall were formed and concrete poured last week, he continues.

“These will be the upstream wing walls, the downstream chute walls and the front weir wall,” he says.

“This will complete the concrete portion of the project. The following week, crews will be focused on stripping the concrete forms and backfilling the spillway excavation.”

When the project began in July, the first task was to lower the water level in the reservoir to allow the construction to take place. This meant that the state did not stock the lake this year, but instead chose to treat it to remove undesirable fish.

“The pumps were shut off on October 17 and the reservoir has started slowly refilling,” says Gosse. 

“The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has also successfully treated a portion of the stream and small pool of water to kill any undesirable species of fish that remained. They will be re-stocking the reservoir in spring, so visitors can expect an enhanced fishing opportunity.”

The project is now so close to completion that the Forest Service is anticipating that Cook Lake will once again be open to the public before the year comes to a close.

“We look forward to opening the Cook Lake area to the public again later this year, and invite all of our visitors to come out and see the new spillway, which will provide a safer visitor experience in the event of a heavy rain or snowmelt event,” he says.