Wastewater Engineering was responsible for the complete renovation of the existing concrete diversion dam and intake structure on the San Miguel River above the Town of Naturita.

This included widening the diversion structure from 60-feet to 100-feet after denaturing the site and excavating to bedrock. The structure was reinforced through the addition of new walls and erosion pads. Additional features in the design included a new intake screen, silt flushing pipe and slide gates.

The intake was designed to minimize the problems with silt build-up and ice encrustation and included a small settling basin with a drain pipe to allow flushing. Water is then diverted down a raw water pipeline to the Town’s water treatment plant. The new diversion/intake structure now safely passes the 100-year flood and was designed to prevent undercutting and erosion of the relatively soft bedrock in the stream.