For most of its length, the Laramie River is an idyllic, gently twisting and turning river that meanders across some of the most historic territory in the western U.S. It begins its voyage at Chambers Lake, in Larimer County, Colo. and eventually joins fo
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GOSHEN COUNTY – For most of its length, the Laramie River is an idyllic, gently twisting and turning river that meanders across some of the most historic territory in the western U.S. It begins its voyage at Chambers Lake, in Larimer County, Colo. and eventually joins forces with the North Platte River nearly 280 miles away, near the town of Fort Laramie. The confluence of the two rivers is only a stone’s throw away from the Fort Laramie National Historic Site, home of the most famous of the “High Plains” military outposts, established to protect settlers along the Oregon, Mormon and Bozeman trails.
For most of the year, the part of the Laramie River that flows through Goshen County is a tranquil host, providing habitat for trout, geese, ducks, turkeys, deer, antelope and a dozen or so ranches, some of which have operated along its banks for several generations.
However, there is a six to eight week period during spring when the river can be a raging tyrant, changing course, toppling trees and eroding large areas of land. Of course, the river’s disposition is dependent on the level of snow pack the feeds it and the amount of spring rains that can fatten it even more.
The Laramie River Ranch sits a few miles down river from Grayrocks Reservoir and has seen both faces of the river, scenic and serene or turbulent and treacherous.
“Right now the river is flowing about 300 to 400 cubic feet per second,” said Tom Lee, who, along with his wife, owns and operates the Laramie River Ranch. “Between the end of April and the first week in May that will increase to about 1,000 cfs. And, over the last couple of years, because of snow pack and heavy spring rains that has increased to 4,000 to 5,000 cfs from mid-May to the end of June, which has created a lot of erosion.”
Besides the snow melt and spring rains, Lee said that, at times, the discharges from Grayrocks Reservoir adds to the flooding and erosion and he is hoping, along with several other landowners along the Laramie River, to open a dialog with Basin Electric Power Cooperative, in order to mitigate some the effects of the discharge from the reservoir.
BEPC began construction on Grayrocks Reservoir and the Laramie Power Station in 1974 and the station began generating power in 1980. Though it is a coal-fired power station, the plant needs water from the reservoir for steam production and cooling.
“My wife’s family has had the place for 50 years, since 1964,” explained Lee. “We had a flood in ’83-’84, but after that (the discharge from the plant) seemed to be managed a little better.
“Then in 2011-12 we had a lot of flood damage, and then saw the same pattern occur in 2015-16. We realize the power company has different objectives that we do, but we want to work with them to adjust their releases from the reservoir, especially those years when there is over 100 percent snow pack, and we know there is more than enough to keep the reservoir full.”
Standing beside a huge oxbow in the river, where once there was five acres pasture and now there is five acres of river, Lee explains that snow pack in the areas that feed the river have been close to 150 percent and if there is a heavy spring rain and the reservoir starts discharging its excess water all at once, he and his neighbors stand to lose even more ground.