Quail Lake was planned by the developer

As regular walkers around the .9 mile of Quail Lake, there have been questions regarding this lake that have come to mind: When was it built and reason why? How deep is the lake near the dam? Where is the water source? How often is the lake re-stocked for fish?
- D. M. Callahan

ANSWER: A 22-acre lake was part of the 1969 master plan for this area, Cheyenne Mountain Ranch, the 3,000-acre planned community developed by Gates Land Co. After Quail Lake was built in the early '70s it was turned over to the city in 1974. Kurt Schroeder, park maintenance, trails and open space manager, said Quail Lake was built for aesthetics and water runoff.

The lake is 42 feet deep at the dam. The lake is stocked regularly by the Division of Wildlife, which says rainbow trout are plentiful this spring, catching channel catfish should be good and fishing for bluegills should be fair. The lake is filled with excess potable water which Schroeder explains, “is when there is more water coming into the utilities water treatment plant than what they are using.” During drought years the lake went down because there was no excess water.