FROM THE ARCHIVES: Work at Carter Lake Brings C-BT Project Water to Southern Farms and Communities

For much of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, gravity does the work of bringing high-quality water to farms, cities, industries and more in Northeastern Colorado.

For one stretch on the Front Range, however, gravity meets its match. The Carter Lake Pressure Conduit requires a pump at Flatiron Power Plant to lift water 297 feet, through more than a mile of pipe, to get water situated into Carter Lake.

This month, 75 years ago, crews started to build that tunnel. The tunnel is the only spot on the Colorado-Big Thompson Project’s east side where a pump is required to move water. While pumping occurs at the Farr Pump Plant and Willow Creek Pump Plant to get water uphill on the West Slope, only the Carter Lake Pressure Conduit requires such efforts on this side of the mountain. In September 1950, crews started to build that tunnel to bring water to Carter Lake, also under construction at the time. By 1952, both were built and water could be brought to the southern half of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District.