Preserving the McElmo Creek Flume

Preserving the McElmo Creek Flume. . The McElmo Creek Flume was in use from the 1890s to the 1990s, carrying water for over a hundred years. After it was abandoned, it remained in good condition until 2006, when a flash flood carried debris into the trough and damaged the wooden top. Deterioration continued rapidly after that, and the Flume was in danger of collapse., Preservation of historic sites is important if we are to understand the past. Without this water delivery system, Cortez would not have been founded. The Valley did not have a river so water was diverted from the Dolores River, and distributed through flumes like this one., Many local residents were concerned by the rapid deterioration of the Flume, and in 2011 it was listed on the Colorado List of Endangered Places. In 2012, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the water history of Montezuma county, and to the settlement of the West., The first step in preserving the Flume was to assess the condition of the wood, and the concrete and steel foundation., The most threatened part of the foundation was the south end where erosion had cut back the bank and the concrete supports were hanging in mid-air., Much of the concrete, applied in 1955, had cracked and some of the steel girders needed to be cleaned of corrosion., In the winter of 2016, the necessary repairs were completed including new footers for the south end of the flume and rip-rap to protect against future erosion., A work in progress , The wooden trough will be re-built using about 30% of the original wood that still remains in good or fair condition. This work should be completed by 2018., Montezuma County received four grants from the History Colorado State Historical Fund to assess the condition of the foundation and the wooden trough, and then repair these elements., Matching funds for this historic preservation work were provided by the Southwest Basin Roundtable of the Colorado Water Board, the Southwest Water Conservancy District, the Ballantine Family Fund, Montezuma County, the Montezuma County Historical Society, The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Montezuma Valley Irrigation, and private donations., So please walk to the Flume overlook on your left, and see the historic McElmo Creek Flume. It has a story to tell., Captions , [Top row] , Left: The McElmo Flume in operation sometime in the early 1980s. , Top right: The McElmo Flume in the early 2000s shortly after being decommissioned. , Bottom right: The McElmo Flume in 2015 before rehabilitation work began., [Second row] , Left: Preparations being made for new footers at the south end of the Flume. , Center: Form work for the new concrete footers. , Right: The finished product armored with boulders to prevent erosion., {Third row] , Left: Ron Anthony of Anthony and Assocs. sampling the wood in the trough of the Flume. , Center: Rehabilitation team evaluating the concrete and steel. , Right: Concrete encased steel support structure showing corrosion and spalling of concrete., [Bottom left block] , Top right: Southern supports of Flume prior to rehabilitation. , Bottom left: Project Engineer evaluating the integrity of the steel and concrete supports. , Bottom right: A member of the rehabilitation team removes old concrete., [Bottom right block] Engineer drawings for the rehabilitation of the wooden trough. . This historical marker is Near Cortez in Montezuma County Colorado