The Bureau of Land Management – Rawlins Field Office (BLM) and the City of Rawlins have worked together to revive Rim Lake, a local recreation area approximately seven miles south of Rawlins. As announced in early May, the flow from Sage Creek Springs has reached its highest point in recent years. Because of the high flows and because the reservoirs have been full for over a year, excess spring runoff collected in Rim Lake.
Rim Lake is a BLM day-use recreation area located approximately 7 miles south of Rawlins on WY 71. This spring, the BLM used regular recreation funds for regular maintenance and improvements to the Rim Lake recreation area. This included replacing a degraded culvert and clearing a drainage ditch. The BLM also coordinated with Wyoming Game and Fish Department to stock fish in Rim Lake. In May, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department stocked 4,050 eight-inch rainbow trout in Rim Lake. The BLM is considering several projects to repair, replace, and enhance local recreation assets, including at Rim Lake. If you want to volunteer or learn more about these opportunities, please call the Rawlins Field Office at 307-328-4200 or stop by 1300 N. 3rd Street.
The BLM and City are continuing to meet about managing excess spring runoff and Rim Lake. The BLM provides a great recreation area for our community, and the City is excited that additional spring flows may allow this to be available in the future.
Due to the high volume of spring runoff, there have been no water restrictions for the City of Rawlins, no well usage, and full reservoirs. Additional spring runoff is also being returned to the Platte River System via Sugar Creek, and the Rochelle Ranch Golf Course is being watered using spring runoff instead of river water.
The Sage Creek Springs have the same snowpack levels in 23-24 as in 21-22, but the City has double the water coming to the treatment plant. The flow increase may be due to replacing 10,000 feet of wood stave pipeline with PVC in January - August 2022. However, this cannot be proven due to various factors that impact flows, such as melt rate and a lack of meters throughout the collection system.
For more information, please contact BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner Andy Williams at 307-328-4310 or City of Rawlins Community Relations Mira Miller at 307-328-4500 ext. 1022.
