Rueter-Hess Dam and Reservoir Regulatory Support

A large blue pipe with bolts.
Industrial control panel with numerous buttons, switches, and indicator lights next to a complex arrangement of pipes, valves, and a small motor. A schematic is posted on the panel; the floor is concrete with some exposed wiring.
A large, calm reservoir with a concrete intake tower connected to the shore by a metal bridge. Floating barriers are visible on the water, and the sky is partly cloudy with distant rain falling in the background.

Client

Parker Water & Sanitation District

Location

Douglas County, Colorado

Services Provided

  • Dam safety inspections
  • Instrumentation evaluations
  • Operations and maintenance
  • Emergency Action Plan
  • Dam safety compliance

Challenges

Rueter-Hess Dam and Reservoir is impounded by a 7,675-foot-long, 196-foot-tall high-hazard dam owned and operated by Parker Water & Sanitation District (PWSD).  The Colorado Office of the State Engineer (SEO) regulates the dam, but PWSD is responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of the dam in accordance with the SEO’s Rules and Regulations for Dam Safety and Dam Construction.

Solution

RJH provided design and construction engineering services for Rueter-Hess Dam and Reservoir.  Since completion of construction in 2011, RJH has provided PWSD with regulatory support to meet the SEO’s requirements for monitoring and inspections. Ongoing work tasks include:

  • Participating in annual dam safety inspections.
  • Compiling and evaluating data from instruments that include piezometers; embankment seepage weirs; earth pressure sensors; movement monitors on the embankment, spillway, and outlet works; tilt meters; magnetic settlement sensors; inclinometers; and crackmeters.
  • Preparing annual instrumentation reports.
  • Developing criteria and forms for PWSD’s use in completing routine inspection and data collection.
  • Developing standard procedures for operation and maintenance.
  • Updating the Emergency Action Plan.