Did you miss the Denver Trout Unlimited meeting earlier this week? If so, the big topic of discussion was the improvements to the Denver South Platte River that are in the planning phase. Trout’s Fly Fishing was in attendance and here are the cliff notes.

According to Brian Murphy of CDM Smith, the project discussed in the meeting is in the design phase now and the final design phase should be complete in August 2013. The stretch of river that is under consideration for a major face lift is between Evans Avenue and Florida Avenue and includes the wing dam just south of the Florida Avenue Bridge. There is roughly $5M that is earmarked for in-stream and above bank improvements including creation and installment of long term fish habitat (funds driving this project include money that was raised by DTU and the Carp Slam).

Brian Murphy is a Water Resources Engineer with CDM Smith in Denver, Colorado. His primary fields of work include river engineering and aquatic ecosystem restoration. Brian is a licensed Professional Engineer in four states including Colorado; a Professional Hydrologist; and a Certified Floodplain Manager. According to Brian, if everything stays on track, the project will begin “turning dirt” October of 2013 and will wrap up in mid 2015.

Photo Courtesy of Denver Trout Unlimited

If you have ever seen this stretch of river, you know that any augmentation is a good augmentation. There will be other opportunities to review the plans as they move through the finalization and approval process. If you fish the DSP, you should get involved. For more information on the project and Denver Trout Unlimited click HERE. Do you have any questions about the project or ideas for the Denver South Platte? Let 'em fly here.