With all the press about sightings at South Platte Reservoir in Littleton's South Platte Park, folks may be wondering why they've never heard of it . . . It's not a well-kept secret, its just a new facility just developing a food-chain.
The reservoir was first filled 4 - 5 years ago after the dam was built on an active gravel-mining pit. The reservoir is water supply for Highlands Ranch, managed by Centennial Water and Sanitation, thus has more use/access restrictions than some other lakes in the Park. The reservoir was not intended to become great wildlife habitat. South Platte Park was heavily involved in the design phase because as we all know, whether good habitat is intended or not, wildlife will use it anyway. The initial description for the reservoir was to think of it like a bath-tub for critical water supply - steep sides and (for that use) a flat bottom to maximize capacity. It is filled with junior water rights owned by Centennial, via the Nevada Ditch and the Last Chance Ditch coming from Chatfield Reservoir. It is a critical part of their water supply, so Centennial warned us that it could fill very rapidly at times (as it is currently doing), it could be drained down if needed very rapidly to almost nothing (as it was in September), and it could sit empty for years during an extended drought due to the junior status of the storage rights. Many of you know Ray Sperger, our staff ecologist at the time, who helped Centennial design 'refuge pockets' in the deepest part of the reservoir so that if it gets drained to its lowest levels, there will still be some pockets of water to help hold over what aquatic life finds its way in. Unlike the other lakes in South Platte Park, there are no fish habitat structures, shoreline plantings and wetlands, or other habitat features intended to attract wildlife - but obviously it's attracting them anyway!
The first few years, wildlife sightings were pretty limited, but the food chain has been slowly building. This fall, when it was drained down during the drought, it became a great stopover for shorebirds, with over 65 killdeer present at one time, plus pectoral sandpipers, an assortment of peeps and smaller plovers, and more. Recent reports of long-tailed ducks, swans, iceland and lesser black-backed gulls, greater scaup, loons, etc all indicate there is a decent supply of food developing. Ducks have attracted raptors including regular sightings of bald eagles and osprey, and regular sightings over the last few weeks of both prairie and peregrine falcons. We're excited and look forward to hearing more about your sightings, and will continue to post our own when we have 'em.
The south shore is the only area open to the public. This is in part due to Centennial's requirements for water supply security, and in part at our request to prevent use on the east crest, which towers over the mature cottonwoods lining the Nevada Ditch at the foot of the dam. These are critical aroosting areas for bald eagles, and nesting areas for great-horned owls, red-tails, and swainson's hawks and the concern is putting people at the canopy level could displace that use. It may be possible on rare occasions for South Platte Park (via the Carson Nature Center) to arrange for access to other parts of the reservoir for organized groups, though we may be required to charge a small fee to offset our staff costs to provide that guided access, per our agreements with Centennial.
A special tip to birders - check out the trail on the east side of the Nevada Ditch (circumambulates Eaglewatch Lake). We secured a conservation easement on the Nevada Ditch through South Platte Park and the Polo Reserve development to protect this critical migration corridor composed of dense berry-producing shrubs and vines, and mature cottonwoods. This area regularly produces great mixed-warbler flocks during spring and fall migration, and we regularly find our best song-bird rarities in this section.
Finally, the question you've been waiting for - in which county does the reservoir lie? All of it but the southwestern-most bay are in ARAPAHOE COUNTY. From the southeast corner of the Cool Toys Marina property, due south and west, is JEFFERSON COUNTY. I posted on our facebook page a screenshotfrom the Arapahoe County GIS resource Arapmap (Jefferson County's online map is called ASPIN) to help clarify: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151472468254863&set=a.58455394862.64391.47305639862&type=1&theater. Be glad you're only trying to determine what county you've seen birds in - when we have the rare law-enforcement issue in that area, there's a quick response, but then we have to resort to this map to determine who writes the final report: Jefferson County Sheriff, Arapahoe County Sheriff, Littleton Police, South Suburban Park Rangers, State Patrol, the Army Corps, or Colorado State Parks! Ugh!
Happy Birding!
Skot Latona
Supervisor of South Platte Park
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