Chambers Lake is a reservoir in
Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver.
...
. Located within the
Roosevelt National Forest, the reservoir supplies water for irrigation and municipal water supply.
The reservoir is owned by the Water Supply and Storage Company, based in
Fort Collins
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...
. The city of
Thornton owns a large proportion of the company's stock. Water from the reservoir makes its way to the
Cache la Poudre River
The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States.
Name
The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or " cache of powder". It refers to ...
. It then flows down through
Poudre Canyon to Colorado's
Eastern Plains, where it is distributed.
History
The current dam is the third one to exist at the reservoir. Earlier dams burst in 1891 and 1904, causing much flooding and damage downstream. The present dam was built in 1910 and later renovated to increase its height to 58 feet. The renovations were completed in 1928.
Chambers Lake receives water from Skyline Ditch, completed in 1894, and several creeks. The ditch carries water from the
Laramie River, which is part of the
North Platte River watershed. The lake itself and its drainage are part of the
South Platte River watershed, so the ditch is an early example of an
interbasin transfer
Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are (often hyphenated) terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized ...
in Colorado.
Recreation
The Forest Service operates the Chambers Lake Campground, near the lake. Given the area's high altitude, the campground has a short season and is only open from about the end of June to the end of September.
The lake also offers fishing.
References
Reservoirs in Colorado
Roosevelt National Forest
Lakes of Larimer County, Colorado
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