Horsetooth Lake Overlook

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

Horsetooth Lake Overlook

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture/faa Watermark Will Not Appear On Your Finished Photograph

Description

Horsetooth Lake overlook near Fort Collins, Colorado. Horsetooth Reservoir is a large lake in southern Larimer County, Colorado just west of the city of Fort Collins. It sits in the foothills above the town on the western side of the Dakota Hogback, which contains the water along its eastern side. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles, and is approximately one-half mile wide.

Constructed in 1949 by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of its federal Colorado-Big Thompson Project, water distribution is currently managed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and Bureau of Reclamation. Horsetooth and Carter Lake serve as the two principal containers for water diverted eastward under the continental divide via the Colorado-Big Thompson.

Horsetooth reservoir is a supplementary source of municipal water for Fort Collins and other communities in the region, as well as for irrigation in the South Platte River valley. The reservoir takes its name from Horsetooth Mountain, a summit in the foothills west of the southern end of the reservoir.

The construction of the reservoir inundated the community of Stout. Prior to construction, the majority of the town moved to a location that today surrounds Horsetooth's South Bay, but a few building foundations, including that of the old school house, are now under water

Horsetooth Reservoir was created by the construction of four separate large earthen dams, all completed in 1949 and all modernized with a seismic retrofit in 2000-2004.

Some digital effects were added to the image after the original photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during this transition...

Image copyright 2012 Jon Burch Photography

Uploaded

April 20th, 2012

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