I have a highly irrational fear of the Barker Meadow Reservoir. The reservoir, consisting of 14,185,000,000 liters of water, is held by Barker Dam. Located in Nederland Colorado, the Barker Dam stands between us and mass destruction.
If 14,185,000,000 liters of water doesn’t scare you, this might: “If Barker Reservoir were to fail, downstream flooding would occur in Boulder Canyon and the City of Boulder. The stream flows would greatly exceed normal conditions and would cause inundation well beyond the normal riverbanks. Failure of a large dam is a serious emergency, and fast action is required to evacuate people before the flood waters reach them.” says Joe Taddeucci, the Director of Utilities for the city of Boulder.
“Barker Dam is an engineered structure, and while extensive design features and practices are in place to prevent failure, any such structure can theoretically fail. The chances of failure are extremely small. All structures have safety factors built into their design to prevent failure under severe circumstances and such structures are carefully monitored through formal dam safety programs.” Says Mr. Taddeucci.
He continues, “Unlike Barker Reservoir, other large dams are operated as flood control structures whereby the reservoir water levels are kept very low relative to the height of the dam and capacity of the reservoirs so that when a large flood occurs, the dams can temporarily hold back a large volume of water and then release it slowly in a controlled manner. Cherry Creek Dam, Chatfield Dam, and Bear Creek Dam in the Denver metro area are examples of flood control dams.” Boulder has had its fair share of massive floods, with the infamous 2013 flood, resulting in nine deaths, according to the Coloradoan. The devastating effects of flooding leave can traumatize a community for generations to come.
“Barker Dam is designed to have more than enough strength to remain standing under the largest flood that is theoretically possible (sometimes referred to in design as “the probable maximum flood”). All large dams in Colorado are also required to have an emergency action plan in place in the unlikely event of failure. Emergency action plans allow dam owners and emergency managers to proactively have things like contact and resource lists in place prior to an emergency so that time isn’t lost trying to develop such information during an event.” Says Taddueci, so if Barker Dam were to break, all the proper responses would already be put into place.
Currently, dams are a subject at the forefront of news and media due to the deadly dam breaks in Libya. UNICEF describes the carnage, “Massive flooding has killed more than 6,000 people, with hundreds more still missing. More than 16,000 children are displaced in eastern Libya, with many more affected due to lack of essential services such as health, schooling and safe water supply.” Due to the dams breaking in Libya, many innocent people have suffered.
The Scientific American writes, “The American Society of Civil Engineers regularly issues a “report card” on U.S. infrastructure. In the most recent 2021 assessment, the nation’s dams were given a grade of D.”
Although the idea of Barker Dam breaking is terrifying, I must admit it does serve a purpose. Mr. Taddeucci shares, “The city operates Barker Reservoir for municipal water supply and maintains as much water as possible in the reservoir year-round to ensure the city has adequate supply under a variety of conditions. Each year, Barker Reservoir fills with snow melt in the spring and the water level slowly goes down over the remainder of the year as water from the dam is delivered through a series of pipelines to the city’s Betasso Water Treatment Facility. Some of the water from Barker Reservoir is also used to generate electricity through the Boulder Canyon Hydroelectric and Betasso Hydroelectric plants.”
Simplified, this means Barker Dam provides water to many people, but Barker Dam is also hydroelectric, meaning that the dam generates electricity. Hydroelectricity is a form of renewable energy, and the City of Boulder owns eight hydroelectric power plants, according to the City of Boulder website.
So what does all of this mean for Boulder High? If the dam were to break, Boulder High would be in grave peril, and would most likely face irreparable damage. So yes, Barker Dam is a great fear of mine, because of the dangers it poses of which the chances may be slim, but never zero.
