Plum Creek (Douglas County, Colorado)

Plum Creek[1]
The creek just before it empties into Chatfield Reservoir
Location
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	Douglas County
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of West Plum Creek and East Plum Creek
• location	Sedalia, Colorado
Mouth	Chatfield Reservoir
• location	Douglas County, Colorado
• coordinates	39°33′23″N 105°3′40″W
• elevation	5,430 ft (1,660 m)
Basin features
Progression	South Platte—Platte—Missouri—Mississippi

Plum Creek is a stream in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. It is formed by the confluence of West Plum Creek and East Plum Creek near the intersection of North Perry Park Road and Manhart Avenue in Sedalia.

Prior to the construction of Chatfield Reservoir in the 1960s and 1970s, Plum Creek merged with the South Platte River in far northern Douglas County. Now, however, it empties into the southern side of the reservoir itself, just west of Santa Fe Drive and within the boundaries of Chatfield State Park.

The Chatfield Storage Reallocation Project, scheduled to start in fall, 2017, will add capacity to Chatfield Reservoir and raise its level about 12 feet. This higher reservoir level will cause the mouth of the creek to move about 7,000 feet further upstream. As part of the expansion project, a mitigation project will also be undertaken to deal with increased sediment deposition and channel erosion along Plum Creek caused by increased urban runoff.^[2][3]

Sources

The two creeks that join to create Plum Creek — West Plum Creek and East Plum Creek — rise in the Rampart Range. West Plum Creek flows northward from the Rampart Range through the West Plum Creek Valley and the sparsely-populated, affluent community of Perry Park, west of Dawson Butte. East Plum Creek flows generally northward through Castle Rock and then just south of Castle Pines, Colorado towards its merger with West Plum Creek at Sedalia.

Influence on local names

Together, the three creeks give their names to various roads, businesses and other features in Douglas County. Examples include the Plum Creek Parkway^[4] in Castle Rock, the East Plum Creek Trail,^[5] and the Plum Creek Golf Club^[6] in Castle Rock.

Catastrophic 1965 flood

Plum Creek experienced historically record rain fall and flooding in 1965. Over 14 inches of rain fell in under four hours in a concentrated part of the Plum Creek watershed on 16 June. The creek, the South Platte River, Denver and beyond experienced catastrophic flooding. Peak flows along Plum Creek and its two major tributaries, East and West Plum Creek" exceeded the "estimated 1965 flood peaks with the 100-year (1% annual chance) and 500-year (0.2% annual chance) published flow" by two to four times the 500-year predicted flood rate.^[7]

See also

• List of rivers of Colorado

References

1. "Plum Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
2. Rubino, Joe (2017-06-27). "Chatfield Reservoir expansion project will start this fall". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
3. "Environmental Mitigation". Chatfield Storage Reallocation Project. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
4. "Plum Creek Parkway". Town of Castle Rock, Colorado. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
5. "East Plum Creek Trail". Town of Castle Rock, Colorado. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
6. "Plum Creek Golf Club". Plum Creek Golf Club. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
7. Stewart, Kevin; DeGroot, Bill; Kohlenberg, Bryan (December 2015). "Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Flood]" (PDF). Flood Hazard News. Denver: Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD), State of Colorado. Retrieved 12 August 2019.