Chatfield Reservoir Water Level
Chatfield Reservoir is at 5,431.64 ft today (Oct 31), 12.36 ft below its 5,444 ft full pool, down 0.16 ft this week.
Colorado · South Platte River
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Water level history
About Chatfield Reservoir
Chatfield Reservoir is a reservoir on the South Platte River in Colorado, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its full summer pool sits at 5444 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Chatfield Reservoir's water level
Chatfield sits where Plum Creek meets the South Platte River, about 25 miles southwest of Denver, and Plum Creek is the reason it was finally built. Congress authorized a dam here in 1950, but local opposition stalled it until June 16, 1965. That afternoon fourteen inches of rain fell on Dawson Butte in four hours, and Plum Creek rose from about 150 to 154,000 cubic feet per second in less than three hours. It destroyed much of Sedalia, joined the South Platte north of Louviers, and carried the flood north through Denver. Statewide the storms killed 24 people and caused $543 million in damage, which made it Colorado's costliest flood. The Corps of Engineers began construction in 1967 and finished in 1975. The earthen embankment runs about 13,136 feet and stands 147 feet above the streambed, with roughly 3,018 square miles of drainage behind it. Normal releases stay under 500 cubic feet per second, the outlets can pass 8,400, and the largest release on record was about 3,350 in 1995.
The number on this page is read against a stack of pools. Below 5,385 feet is inactive and sediment storage. Until 2020 the conservation pool topped out at 5,432 feet, and everything from there to 5,500 was empty space held for floodwater, with a surcharge zone above that to 5,521.6. The Chatfield Storage Reallocation Project, approved in a Record of Decision signed May 29, 2014, turned the band between 5,432 and 5,444 into joint flood control and conservation space, adding 20,600 acre-feet of storage and raising full pool by 12 feet. Ten water providers share it, led by Highlands Ranch Water with 6,922 acre-feet and Central Colorado Water Conservancy District with 5,274, along with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Denver Water, Castle Rock, Dominion Water and Sanitation District, two Castle Pines districts and the Center of Colorado Water Conservancy District. About 2,100 acre-feet is an environmental pool that can be released any time of year to improve South Platte flows. The Corps allowed storage in the new space beginning May 12, 2020.
Twelve more feet of water would have drowned much of Chatfield State Park's old shoreline, so between 2017 and April 2020 the water providers paid to move it uphill. The swim beach was relocated west and raised, and its shoreline grew from 130 to 340 feet. The north boat ramp and the marina's landside facilities were rebuilt higher, the perimeter road was elevated, and day use areas including Plum Creek, Jamison, Deer Creek and Roxborough Cove were raised or moved. Denver Water, which has stored water here since 1979, works with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to keep the lake at or above 5,426 feet from Memorial Day to Labor Day. With higher water along wooded shoreline, Denver Water warns that beavers and wind are dropping trees and limbs into the lake. In an October 2021 state survey, walleye and rainbow trout each made up 21 percent of the catch, followed by white sucker, gizzard shad and smallmouth bass, with young shad serving as a key food source for the walleye. CPW has run a walleye spawning operation here, but in 2019 Chatfield's egg take lagged far behind Cherry Creek and Lake Pueblo, and biologists began studying why.
Chatfield Reservoir — frequently asked
What is Chatfield Reservoir's full pool?
5,444 feet above sea level. That figure dates to May 2020, when the Corps of Engineers began allowing storage in the reallocated space and the top of the conservation pool rose from 5,432 feet. The 12 feet in between hold 20,600 acre-feet for ten water providers but still double as flood space. Anything above 5,444 is floodwater the Corps will release downstream, and the flood pool reaches up to 5,500 feet.
Why does Chatfield's water level go up and down?
Levels follow mountain snowpack, rain and water demand. The participating providers store water in the 5,432 to 5,444 foot band in wet years and release it when it is needed downstream. Typical snowmelt raises the reservoir about a foot every one to two weeks. Water above 5,444 feet is flood storage and is drained back out by the Corps.
When did Chatfield first fill to its new full pool?
May 2023, three years after storage in the reallocated space was approved. A heavy rain event that began May 10 put about nine and a half feet of water into the reservoir in eight days, which officials described as unheard of compared with the usual snowmelt pace. Officials said the South Platte gauge in Denver would have run about two and a half feet higher without the dam holding that water back.
How low does Chatfield get in summer?
Denver Water and Colorado Parks and Wildlife aim to keep the lake at or above 5,426 feet from Memorial Day to Labor Day, about 18 feet below full pool. In the roughly six years of data behind this page's gauge, the lowest reading was 5,427.27 feet in 2022, just above that line. That is a recent low, not an all-time record.
How much flood water can Chatfield hold?
Total capacity is more than 350,000 acre-feet, most of it kept empty for floods between full pool and 5,500 feet, with a surcharge zone to 5,521.6 feet. The outlet works can release 8,400 cubic feet per second and the spillway is designed for 184,000. For scale, Plum Creek alone peaked at 154,000 cubic feet per second in the 1965 flood that pushed the dam into construction.
Why was Chatfield Dam built?
For flood control on the South Platte through Denver. Congress authorized the dam in 1950, but it did not move forward until after the June 1965 flood, when a cloudburst over Dawson Butte sent Plum Creek and then the South Platte flooding north into Denver. Colorado's costliest flood caused $543 million in damage. The Corps began building in 1967 and finished in 1975, placing the dam right at the Plum Creek confluence.
What fish are in Chatfield Reservoir?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife's October 2021 survey found walleye and rainbow trout tied as the most common species at 21 percent each, followed by white sucker at 18 percent, gizzard shad at 12 percent and smallmouth bass at 11 percent, plus bluegill, largemouth bass and yellow perch. One walleye in the survey measured 28 inches and 12 pounds. Young gizzard shad are a main food source for the walleye.
Other lakes near Chatfield Reservoir
- Cherry Creek ReservoirCO
- Blue Mesa ReservoirCO
- Lemon ReservoirCO
- Vallecito ReservoirCO
- Paonia ReservoirCO
- Ridgway ReservoirCO
See current levels for all 7 Colorado lakes and reservoirs →
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