# Boulder Creek is Closed from Boulder Falls to Town!



## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

Hoping this is short lived, we have been having some low water fun on it!

Boulder Creek to be closed to swimmers and watercraft during debris cleanup
Beginning Tuesday, April 22, 2014 the City of Boulder (by emergency rule) and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office will close Boulder Creek to facilitate the cleanup of sediment and debris left as a result of the September 2013 flood. The closure will remain in effect until the restoration work is completed.
During the closure, there will be no swimming, floating (including inner tubes), canoeing or kayaki...ng in the creek inside city limits, and in Boulder County there will be no floating (including inner tubes), canoeing, or kayaking. Heavy construction equipment is being used to dredge and restore the waterway, and the equipment could be dangerous to swimmers or those using watercraft or other flotation devices. Hazards left by the flood include tree branches, rocks and concrete blocks with exposed rebar. 
In Boulder County, Boulder Creek will be closed from Boulder Falls to the City of Boulder’s western limits. In the City of Boulder, Boulder Creek will be closed from the western city limits through the city to the eastern city limits, located at approximately 75th Street and Jay Road. 
The Boulder City Manager has issued an emergency rule that makes it a violation of Boulder Municipal Ordinance 5-5-20 (Unlawful Conduct on Public Property) to swim or use any watercraft in the water while the repair work is being conducted. Police will enforce the rule and may issue citations to people found violating the emergency rule.
It is violation of Colorado Revised Statute to disobey this closure and violators may receive a fine of up to $100.00. 
Boulder Fire-Rescue will accept public comment on the emergency rule for 30 days before deciding whether to extend the rule. Comments may be directed to the fire department at 303-441-4178


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## bobbuilds (May 12, 2007)

oh, thank god! now my friends don't have to see what a pussy I am, and I don't need any more excuses....

That sucks, but im partially glad it's not being reg'd by FEMA.

I think we're gonna get "f'ed in the A" in a few more places other than Boulder creek as well. Parts of the St Vrain if not all of it will be closed. Big Thompson for sure, and it will be interesting to see what happens to LSB/eldo and NSV/SSV and USB.

I think all the big boy stuff, USB, NSV will be easy to evade detection, though getting out of NSV might be a problem. I think proving grounds is out for this season. USB should be ok, LSB not so much, we shall see.

I have no idea what im talking about anyway, just speculating and worried.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

This sounds like a potential disaster if they're sending gung-ho guys with backhoes out there to "clean up" the creek. Is there any information on what they plan to do or any indication the work's being overseen by someone who thinks creeks function as something other than drainage culverts?


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

My understanding is yes, Gary Lacy has his hands in it. From what I have seen, things look good. We still have some of the ledgy drops in the park proper, but there has been some improve drops and some drops that they did not rebuild that have made it more natural with Boulders below Ebin G fine.


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Creek looked like it doubled since yesterday.

My understanding is that S&R went to do some training and found rebar and other junk just below the park. Not sure if they've suggested the closure, or if guys in excavators don't want to worry about hitting a boater while digging.

They seem to be doing a nice job with what they are doing.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Chief Niwot said:


> My understanding is yes, Gary Lacy has his hands in it. From what I have seen, things look good. We still have some of the ledgy drops in the park proper, but there has been some improve drops and some drops that they did not rebuild that have made it more natural with Boulders below Ebin G fine.


Whew!

I guess that's the nice thing about living in Boulder. They don't just go in with bulldozers and backhoes and a "Pave it and drain it" mentality.


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## kparker (Jan 31, 2009)

My understanding is that this is being driven by Boulder Fire department. Notice the 30 day public comment period, which hopefully everyone will take full advantage of.


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## Nathan (Aug 7, 2004)

Andy H. said:


> Whew!
> 
> I guess that's the nice thing about living in Boulder. They don't just go in with bulldozers and backhoes and a "Pave it and drain it" mentality.


Andy it's obvious you haven't been around Boulder County in the past four months. If it makes you feel better they aren't using bulldozers and backhoes, just excavators and loaders. If there weren't a lot of dedicated people volunteering the rivers would very much be "pave it and drain it". Cdot is the biggest culprit, but I believe they are trying the best they can in the past month or so.

No guarantees in Lyons yet, but Meadow and Bohn Parks will be closed to paddling. Efforts are being made to make black bear and a-hole usable this summer. Lyons Outdoor Games will be held May 31 and pending approval by the board of trustees will have paddling events. No ssv race this year.


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## yojimbo (Oct 12, 2003)

IMO they are doing a good job. We paddled above EGF to Broadway tonight after reading the city closure press release. The kayak course is much as before with the top drop above the big pool a lot like before. Boulder garden below widow maker is channelized with no rr eddies. More of a right line at the bottom of EGF. 5th St wave working. 9th st wave completely rebuilt, glassy and powerful. Fun chute where they are working at the Chief Niwot statue drop - more to come. 
From what I understand Gary lacy is managing the design very hands on for the city and should be thanked. They have done a huge amount of sediment removal to regain the pool/drop structures and are remaking 6 or so of the Bigger drops to be rebuilt to be more fun/safe features.

That all said, I wonder why any reaches above current or planned reconstruction need to be under Jane Brautigam's closure? Of course they don't want boats and tubes in the water next to the backhoes in active construction areas. We need to respect the work that is ongoing and not create conflicts but we can ask about the parts that have been completed. We saw a few sticks in the water today, no rebar, nothing unusual for spring.... Great to be back on the water.


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## treewell (Mar 20, 2006)

As I recall there is a state law that prevents local authorities from closing creeks to hard shell boaters. Might that be relevant here? 

Previous high water bans on Boulder Creek have been limited to tubers. Fire dept typically jumps the gun and tries to ban kayaks. Then we have to explain the law all over again.

I have no problem with being courteous and observant and portage around any active work sites. But closing Boulder Creek during one of best run off seasons in long time is unacceptable.


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## kparker (Jan 31, 2009)

Colorado revised statutes 33-13-111, Authority to Close Waters, sub-section (b) allows for the inclusion of canoes and kayaks in the casse of a state of disaster emergency, disaster relief efforts that are underway, which may include debris removal, an accident or other emergency that occures in or immidiately adjacent to the water body, rescue efforts that are actively underway, and active construction or transportation projects authorized under state or federal law.


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## treewell (Mar 20, 2006)

Thanks for the statute reference.

I'd suggest folks call fire dept and give comments (303-441-4178). Chief Larry Donner (sp?) is taking the comments. Only got his voice mail but will keep trying.

My basic point was that for hard shell boats the closure should be limited to "active construction sites" in keeping w/ spirit of state statute. While it is totally reasonable to keep everyone away from active hazards it is over reach to ban all boating during one of best run off periods in a long time.


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## treewell (Mar 20, 2006)

The fire number is 303-441-4178.


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

Larry Donner, Fire Chief, direct number 303-441-3357. If they could open 4 mile down to 6th street, it would be better then a complete closure! Please call!


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## tellutwurp (Jul 8, 2005)

This is a well timed move to close the creek this year. They've had plenty of time to restore the river bed, why wait until now? Vrain and Big T clean up has been going on for months. Once the creek ramps up they won't be able to achieve much anyway, seems like a disguised year closure to me.


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## ednaout (Jun 3, 2005)

> Notice the 30 day public comment period, which hopefully everyone will take full advantage of.


kevin, does that mean we legally get it for 30 days after they post?


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## kparker (Jan 31, 2009)

It is officialy closed now. The comment period will mostly impact how long they keep it closed.


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## N. Wigston (Nov 5, 2003)

Hey guys. I'm trying to make some contact in the Police/fire department to see if we can get volunteer paddlers to help with the cleanup. Hopefully they are into the idea. I will keep you all posted and hopefully start a list of volunteers. I just found out that they expect to be done within 60 days, but it could possibly be longer. 

Nick


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## ednaout (Jun 3, 2005)

Is it really the best way to call the number that's been provided? I can see how a bunch of folks calling would piss someone off....just asking, I'll do whatever will be most effective. Was the notice posted yesterday? So, effectively, we have until may 22 to request the entire park is not closed for too long as well as offer kayak related ( or on foot) assistance for debris removal? 

I'm clearly missing the large amounts of rebar and debris that are in there and I've been in 2x recently. I saw some but not a large amount. It seems this closure might have more to do with restructuring than debris - but that's just what it seems like to me. 

I certainly am not inclined to agree with the above post that suggests it is a calculated event to keep kayakers From being in there. Soundsa little paranoid to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

The article says call the phone number, there was no email address given. I have called Larry Donner, Boulder Fire Chief, Kim at City of Boulder Police and Heidi Prenup at Boulder County police to express my concerns. They seemed receptive to my comments and concerns. I was very polite, of course.

I think there are three issues, excavation sites, debris that could come down with high water, and high water.

I can tell you from two first hand high water experiences, that I have been told by Boulder police that we can not get on the creek. We did it anyway and nothing came of it. Now, according to Kevin's post, they have changed the statue to give them more leeway and I think they are fully using it. 

From my conversations with one of the above, I was told we can't tell a good kayaker from a bad kayaker, so need to close the creek down. I just don't think they want to deal with paddlers, let alone tubers and swimmers and it is the easy way out to close down the whole creek.


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

Gary Lacy is on this!


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## possumturd (Jul 13, 2006)

*BC*

60 FCKN DAYS!
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/bou...d-related-boulder-creek-closure-could-last-60


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## yojimbo (Oct 12, 2003)

It would be useful if the City or Gary or whoever is on top of this could elaborate on where all this mayhem is taking place that is going to endanger kayakers between the buttresses and Broadway (or below, once they finish the current work). Obviously directly adjacent to where the track hoes are working on the Library and Broadway area drops might require short-term small closures/portages, but I thought yesterday EGF to Broadway was more benign than usual.


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## gannon_w (Jun 27, 2006)

Chief Niwot said:


> Larry Donner, Fire Chief, direct number 303-441-3357. If they could open 4 mile down to 6th street, it would be better then a complete closure! Please call!


Or they could open Blue bridge to 4 mile instead so we can get the goods!


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## ednaout (Jun 3, 2005)

I just got off the phone with Chief Donner. Very pleasant man that certainly seems to have the interests of both recreation and safety in mind when closing the creek. Sounds like broad parameters must be established so that IF something should halt the reopening of the creek they don't catch a shit ton of grief for saying it was supposed to open on such and such date versus something later.... As stated, Gary Lacy (as well as others) has been in close touch with the city, for months, and has served as an incredible liaison for kayakers to communicate comments and concerns. That being said, Chief Donner welcomed the phone call and said he was more than happy to talk to anyone that wanted to reach out. Just stay polite and don't act as though this is a conspiracy to kill kayak season and boat whatever else is available in the brief interim that BC is closed.


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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## Marc (Feb 12, 2007)

Have to say that I rode (mtb bike) up the creek path to 4-mile and there is good news and bad... Good news: still a little bony from 4-mi to buttress, but runnable. Only a small tree across the creek above the first footbridge, but runnable river left; also, no work being done--all the work at EGF Park has been finished for a bit now; Buttress work was done ages ago; the work has moved down well below EGF Park now--absolutely nothing happening with machines/humans from 4-mile through the park at this point. Bad news: it's closed. Unless there are nano-particles moving boulders and rebar below water line, I'm missing something. This isn't an all-call to be an a-hole, but the blanket closure seems maybe a bit over the top, though I'm sure the City of Boulder is about filled up with trying to fix flood related problems let alone deal with a bunch of dorks (not you/us, of course...) flailing in new obstacles. Every year there's a group of newbies (some skilled, some not so much) trying their luck in boats, duckies, floaties, inner tubes, etc., usually with a beer in one hand and no shoes or helmets on... Which is not 99% of boaters, I know...


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## Claytonious (Jan 17, 2008)

*Barker res release*

Folks,

This was forwarded to me today. I believe Barker usually doesn't spill any water until it is full. So it seems like this will decrease the amount of water later on. I am not a water geek though.

"A call was placed for water this morning that affects Boulder Creek. Beginning tomorrow morning, Barker Reservoir will discontinue storing and instead bypass most inflow (minus any water diverted into the municipal system). The amount of inflow into Barker can be monitored using the Nederland gage (District Data refer to the BOCMIDCO site). We anticipate that inflows to Barker will increase at a rate of approximately 20 cfs/day beginning today. Please keep in mind that streamflow increases in volume between Barker and town with the addition of Four Mile Creek and North Boulder Creek so the Nederland gage is not representative of the flow in town – it is merely a suggestion of the amount of increase that can be expected. As a side note, the Boulder Canyon Hydro plant will increase generation to a rate of 36 cfs 24 hours/day as a byproduct of the Barker inflow bypass. "


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

I live close to Barker and I looked at it today again. It has been raising pretty fast this past week and is it probably 8' or so below spillway, pretty high for this time of the year. On a typical year the dam spills late May to early June. In the past , they have released some before it spills for I would guess down stream water calls and to build the flow versus just letting it spill all at once. 

So this may make for an overall longer season, less high water, if they start releasing some now.


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## Claytonious (Jan 17, 2008)

Chief Niwot said:


> I live close to Barker and I looked at it today again. It has been raising pretty fast this past week and is it probably 8' or so below spillway, pretty high for this time of the year. On a typical year the dam spills late May to early June. In the past , they have released some before it spills for I would guess down stream water calls and to build the flow versus just letting it spill all at once.
> 
> So this may make for an overall longer season, less high water, if they start releasing some now.


I would welcome the longer/earlier season, if the creek weren't closed right now.


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## jrutkows (May 21, 2007)

yojimbo said:


> It would be useful if the City or Gary or whoever is on top of this could elaborate on where all this mayhem is taking place that is going to endanger kayakers between the buttresses and Broadway (or below, once they finish the current work). Obviously directly adjacent to where the track hoes are working on the Library and Broadway area drops might require short-term small closures/portages, but I thought yesterday EGF to Broadway was more benign than usual.



So I just called Chief Donner, he told me that no more work was going to happen west of Eben G Fine, and that he thought it was very likely that they would open from Broadway west before Barker spills (next several weeks), sounds like there is nothing to worry about. He said they would reopen incrementally working west. They gave a very conservative press release. East of Arapahoe may be closed for quire some time, but that seems of little concern to anyone with a kayak. 

j-


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## Chief Niwot (Oct 13, 2003)

I have pretty solid information that the creek will be opened up tomorrow from Broadway to the West! It ain't open until it is, but keep an eye out for formal notification!


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## treewell (Mar 20, 2006)

Awesome news. Sounds like all the calls to Fire Dept made a difference.

But moral of this story is that Fire Dept made a knee jerk closure anticipating 30-60 days right into the heart of kayak season.

They got around the CO statute that prevents local authorities for closing creek to hard shell boats by declaring emergency powers.

But there was no emergency. In fact from Bway upstream conditions were just fine after extensive restoration work guided by Gary Lacy.

This is mind boggling and cause for city council to reflect of this situation after it is resolved.


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## champson (Jun 9, 2012)

Boulder Creek will be open West of Broadway...starting on Friday. Go get it!

Boulder Creek to be re-opened west of Broadway on Friday - Boulder Daily Camera


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## Landis (Apr 11, 2008)

*Nice Work everyone!*

Its nice to see some semblance of govt listen. Its been a while since I saw a quick turn around like that.

Kudos to everyone for putting in the calls.


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## mark_vanis (Aug 7, 2013)

Yay!!!!!!!


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