2020 A year in review
January- was
probably the most normal of the months for 2020. Staff was busy mowing and
cleaning ditches. Office was preparing documents for our Annual Shareholder
Meeting and the balance of the Grant Phase II for the upper canal relining
project was completed. Brush Hollow Reservoir only measured at 73 ft. with
hopes for moisture to fill the Reservoir before irrigations started.
February- provided Penrose with wonderful Winter snowfall that produced up to 6 inches of
snow. Connie our Superintendent finally got the dream vacation by going on a
cruise. Our annual shareholders meeting was successful, however we sadly had to
say good-bye to Gary Ratkovich who retired from the Board of Directors after 30
years of service to Beaver Park Water, Inc. and all the shareholders. Bart
Adams was elected as a new member to the Board of Directors.
March- of
2020 the effects of COVID-19 changed the World as we knew it and of course
changed how Beaver Park Water does its’ business practice. Access to the office
closed to everyone with exception of staff. Cleaning of canals, repairing of
boxes, replacing gates and keeping screens clean kept the staff busy. The Board
of Directors elected Sonny Daniels as President, Jack Tyler remained as
Vice-President, Justin Jenkins remained as Secretary/Treasurer with Tim Hall
and Bart Adams as Board Members.
April- remained dry and windy most of the month with very little precipitation.
Irrigation began on April 20th, only a few lines were started as the
creek continues to run with less than 10 c.f.s. Irrigation deliveries started
were they ended in 2019. Due to the
State imposed COVID protocols of maintaining social distancing the Board of
Directors monthly meetings have been limited to Board members, Superintendent
and Office Administrator only. Drought conditions are impacting our ability to
deliver irrigations as the creek by the end of April fell to less than 4 c.f.s.
Additionally no precipitation has been received since February.
May- creek
levels remained low with dry skies. The drought monitor for the State is showing
drought conditions in most of the State as Severe. The end of May provided us
with some much-needed precipitation, however it came in the form of 3-4 inches
of hail. Justin Jenkins resigned his
position as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors with Tim Hall voted
in as his replacement. Delivery of irrigations have been a slow process due to
lack of water in the creek and the drought conditions.
June- started
out dry, however we were able to capture some well-deserved rain over a period
of two weeks. This did not impact the water received in the creek as it fell to
4.2 c.f. s as Skaguay closed their gates. Connie immediately arranged for BPW
to receive our 172 AF of water from Skaguay to enable us to continue to
irrigate. Brush Hollow Reservoir was down to 71 ft. Shareholders were
frustrated with the lack of water as well as the staff, however drought
conditions rage on throughout the State with no relief in sight. It became
necessary to start pumping water to Penrose Water District directly from the
Reservoir, all pumping on the West side was suspended as the water was strictly
dedicated to Penrose Water District. The rain received in June only equated to
.37 inches of precipitation that really wasn’t enough to provide the parched
soil. Carl Angerman the ditch rider for the West side deliveries resigned, due
to the lack of water, a replacement will not be hired until 2021.
July- provided us with some rain, almost an inch of rain fell in Penrose. The creek
flow increased and allowed all the water coming into the upper ditch to be
utilized for completing the first irrigations.
August- remained hot and dry and all irrigations were suspended. The drought conditions
throughout the State has most of the South and West portions as Extreme.
September- began hot and dry and a surprise of 6-8 inches of SNOW fell the early part of
the month. We had summer and winter all wrapped into one. The creek level
remained low and planning for the two major projects of phase III Grant for
October. Project includes upper ditch relining on the East side and on the West
side pipe was placed in a deep gulley area to carry water down to Brush Hollow.
This will complete approximately a total of 1200 feet of the upper canal to conclude
the balance of the Phase III Grant. The State of Colorado did not have funds
this year for Grant projects. Beaver
Park Water purchased a dump truck to replace the 1961 Ford that finally quit
us, the rear ends and transmission went out. We purchased the truck locally and
was able use the 1961 as a trade in for the dump bed portion that works well.
The new truck is a 2004 with power steering, heater, radio and air…. how
exciting for the staff.
October’s- weather dropped us into Winter with temperatures falling from 87 degrees down
to 17 degrees by the end of the month. A total of 8-12 inches of snow fell over
the area, however the total moisture only recorded ¼ of an inch of
precipitation. Our upper ditch relining project and Pipe project are very near
to completion as the weather slightly delayed the projects. One more important
project to complete this year will occur in November; replacement of a gate at
our diversion. All of these projects are necessary for retaining our water.
Water loss has occurred over the years due to erosion, cracked cement and in
the area the pipe was placed where no cement lining was in the canal due to the
deep gulley the water ran along to the reservoir. The gulley was full of shale
rock and it has always been suspected that water loss in this area was
significant.
November- remained dry and warm with the drought raging on as well as COVID-19. The gate
at the diversion dam did take longer than scheduled for as the new gate was a
different shape on the bottom than the one it replaced, it required more
grouting than anticipated. The new gate is not leaking as we were experiencing
with the old gate. This is a great success.
