Park Center Water well geyser north of Canon City Tuesday morning (Photos courtesy of Tracy Harmon)
Temperatures that dipped to around 10 degrees below zero early Monday morning caused the new Park Center water well on BLM land along Garden Park Road north of Cañon City to burst into another geyser. Bureau of Land Management Royal Gorge area Field Manager Keith Berger advised Fremont County Commission Chairman Ed Norden Monday that the main water valve on the wellhead froze and burst Monday morning causing a 15-foot high geyser of water to shoot skyward. Berger estimated the well was blowing out 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of water per minute. He said the water was eroding the groundwork around the wellhead draining into Four Mile Creek but had not impacted any traffic on Garden Park Road.
A local contractor was on site Tuesday morning making attempts to control the flow of water from the wellhead and determine what repairs would be needed to cap the well. Residents along Four Mile Creek will notice red coloration in the creek water which is also showing up in the Arkansas River headed downstream towards Florence.
Crews working Tuesday to halt the flow from the Park Center Water well blowout