The Story Behind the Place(s) - Dodd Water Treatment Plant and Dodd Reservoir

The Dodd Water Treatment Plant of the Left Hand Water District and Dodd Reservoir are named in honor of the Dodd family, which has contributed much to the history and development of the Niwot area. Alva M. Dodd came to the Niwot area in the 1860s, and married Della Gould, a member of the pioneering Gould family. They had 10 children, nine of whom remained in the area after they became adults.

One son, Hugh Dodd, lived in the small house on the northwest corner of the intersection of Niwot Road and 71st Street until his death in 1983. Hugh Dodd's daughter, Nancy Hinman, still lives in the Niwot area, and recalls ice skating on Dodd Lake when she was growing up.

Another son, also Alva M. Dodd, and his wife Beth, lived in the large farm house on the northeast corner of the Niwot Road and 71st Street intersection for many years. In later years, they moved to a small house northwest of Dodd Lake. Alva, who was one of the incorporators of the Left Hand Consolidated Water Company in 1961, died in 1989.

When Alva and Beth Dodd moved out, their son, Alva Dodd, Jr., and his wife Jo Ann Dodd moved in to farm and raise their three children. Jo Ann, who worked for CF&C Energy Resources, and later for the law firm Warren & Carlson, died in 2011, while her husband passed away in 2018.

That farm, known as the Dodd homestead, is the site of a large barn built around 1899, still in use, with a prominent sign, "A.M. Dodd & Sons." The sign was restored by Nancy Hinman's family when they acquired the home place and the barn from other family members.

Junior Dodd, as Alva Dodd, Jr. was known to friends and family, was one of the first to help a fledgling youth sports program get established in Niwot. His oldest daughter, Kristi Campbell, now a teacher in Longmont, was the first girl to join the baseball program of what was previously the Gunbarrel Left Hand Valley Boys Baseball Association, now known as Niwot Youth Sports.

The reservoir, just west of the farm, was commonly known as Dodd Lake, and the Dodd girls, Kristi, Kelly and Kari, often swam in the lake, at least until Kelly Dodd's toe was bitten by a snapping turtle. Kelly passed away in 2016. Kari lives on the western slope.

Boulder County acquired the manmade lake from the Dodd family in 2004, and built a small parking area with a very short trail to a bench overlooking the lake. The county website describes it as "a quaint bird and wildlife viewing area." It is open from sunrise to sunset, but fishing is no longer allowed.