Rocky Flats has 12 detention ponds along Walnut and Woman Creek (See monitoring location map), which are formed by earthen dams. These dams were designed for water treatment and storm water detention. Water is routinely batch-discharged from the terminal ponds as water levels rise, after testing has determined water quality meets downstream regulatory standards. Although water rarely rises to the elevation of emergency spillways, if that were to happen, there is a risk that the dams could fail or sustain damage. The resulting potential risk to public health and the environment from breaching of a dam could be far greater than that posed by the low contaminant levels that could exist in the pond water. Thus, the ponds are managed via an action level management procedure to ensure dam safety.

Rocky Flats staff use data from the pond monitoring activities, along with water quality data from the ponds, to determine if and when water should be released from the ponds.

A complete description of the current surface water pond operations program is in the Integrated Monitoring Executive Summary