Cook Lake dam project set to go ahead

To the best of the Forest Service’s knowledge, the snow and rain that has punctuated this spring has not caused any damage to the landslide area next to Cook Lake.

At present, says District Ranger Mike Gosse, the popular recreation site will open as usual at the beginning of summer and plans to enhance the spillway after the July 4 holiday remain on schedule.

“It does seem like winter has hung on here a little longer than usual and I think we are all looking forward to some warmer temperature,” Gosse says.

“At this point in time we have not seen any increase in movement from the mass movement area on the west side of Cook Lake. We do feel this area is susceptible to greater movement in wet years, but sometimes it takes longer for the moisture to seep down to the fault blocks to cause the movement.”

The Forest Service will continue to monitor the sensors in the ground at the site of the potential landslide to watch for any larger movement.

Meanwhile, a long-pending project to reconstruct the dam and spillway is expected to begin this summer. Now six decades old, the structure is showing wear and tear and will be replaced to stop the leakage and improve the site.

“The Forest Service received $1.2 million dollars to improve the current dam at the lake and we will be starting that project on July 8, 2019. Because of the construction process we will be closing the Cook Lake campground and access to the area beginning on July 8,” Gosse says.

“However, we will start lowering the water level in the lake beginning in mid-June for the dam replacement to begin in July.”

Gosse explains that the earthen dam with four six-foot pipes will be replaced with a concrete spillway. The new structure will be able to handle a much larger volume of water in the event of heavy rain or snow melt. The project is set to be completed in November.

“We have been coordinating our Cook Lake spillway improvement project with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department,” Gosse says.

“Because of the need to lower the water level of the lake, the state will not be stocking the lake this year, but will be treating the lake to remove the abundant undesirable fish, and restocking the lake in the spring of 2020.”

The rainfall has, however, left conditions a little muddier than desirable in Crook County’s forested areas, Gosse cautions.

“We would like the public to be aware that the abundant moisture has caused some of our roads to be soft and muddy,” he says.

“We have some of these roads gated yet until conditions dry out to reduce large ruts in the road.”