Strontia Springs Reservoir Cleanup Nearly Done

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver Water is almost finished with cleaning up the Strontia Springs Reservoir.

On Wednesday officials let the media in to get a look at how work is going.

Heavy rain that followed the Buffalo Creek and Hayman wildfires years ago washed hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sediment into the reservoir.

There are literally piles of sediment in there that has the potential to affect Denver's water quality in the long run if it's not removed.

"Pieces of trees, burned vegitation, a lot of the runoff,heavy sediment that really came in a lot faster. It caused the water treatment operations of Denver Water and Aurora to be more complicated, more costly," project manager Doug Raitt said.

The dredging process includes nine miles of pipeline to move the sludge and other debris down to holding ponds at the mouth of Waterton Canyon.

The canyon remains closed to all recreation use until the project is finished.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Waterton Canyon would reopen in September. The canyon will actually be closed through the end of the year, according to Denver Water.