9News Next recently highlight the work being done at Colorado State University on the spillway design for the proposed expansion of Gross Dam. What the story issed is that this project is a LONG way from being a done deal. Engineers at CSU have created a 1:24 working scale model of the heightened dam’s new spillway. The spillway is the only portion of the dam over which water passes and a project of this magnitude requires a physical hydraulic model. While this is undoubtedly an exciting project for the engineers to work on, it does not change the fact that in the big picture, a dam is old technology being used to solve a modern water management challenge. Note that the design engineering on the overall dam project is expected to extend through the end of 2020. Given that the engineering details will not be clear for at least another year, how could the Army Corps of Engineers possibly have seen their way to clear to approve the Denver Water plan for expansion?