Lake PurgatoryCOLORADO |
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Also called Columbine Lake, Lake Purgatory sits on Little Cascade Creek drainage, two miles north of an off-stream reservoir named Electra Lake. A series of four diversion dams direct water from Cascade Creek, Little Cascade Creek and Elbert Creek into Electra Lake to power Xcel Energy's Tacoma hydropower project. The original 1906 Terminal Dam, reconstructed in 1980 and 1981, directs water from Cascade Creek through a pipeline feeding Lake Purgatory on its way to Electra Lake. At some point a dam at Lake Purgatory was breeched changing Lake Purgatory to what the state now classifies as a natural lake. According to the Colorado Division of Water Resources, early records show the original dam height was 13 feet with the lake having a surface area of 40 acres. Lake Purgatory dimensions are estimated to be smaller now. State photographs indicate a surface area of approximately 17 acres and a depth not more than 8 feet.
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