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. business and industrJalarea of, Denver. The Cherry Creek basin drains about 410 square miles , generally to the south of Denver. Portions of El Paso, Elbert, Douglas.. Arapahoe, and Denver Counties lie within the basin. Cherry Creek Dam and Reservoir is located about 12 miles upstream from the mouth of Cherry Creek and controls 385 square miles of the basin I Ii drainage area. The growth of the Denver metropolitan area, since World War II, has become a major factor of the basin's economy. Urban development has reached the Cherry Creek project area and scattered developments are beginning to bypass t~e reservoir area and move farther up the basin. Upstream from the dam, the area is about 80 percent agricultural. . The water resources of the Sand Creek and Cherry Creek basins are integrated with and fully utilized in the economy of the South Platte River basin. Additional water resources are not available for development. Flood problems in the basins are characterized mainly by flash floods capable .of serious damage potentials. The flood history and the hydrologic characteristics of the basins indicate the potential of greater floods within the basins. Major economic damages, particularly to the Denver metropolitan area, would be caused by future flooding. A plan of improvement has been developed Which would provide a high degree of flood protection ~o the Denver metro- poli tan area and downstream reaches. This plan, which is. physically and economically feasible of attainment, consists of mOdifying the existing Cherry Creek Dam, constructing addi- tional dams, and making channel improvements. A total storage of 295,460 acre-feet is required in~he Cherry Creek basin so that major floods need not be discharged into the Sand Creek basin. Cherry Creek Reservoir now provides 93,920 acre-feet of storage. The storage in Cherry Creek can ~e increased to about 197,215 acre-feet by raising the crest ~f the Cherry Creek spillway 31 feet. All other facilities at the project would remain as at present. The authorize.d Castlewood Dam and Reservoir can provide the remaining storage required in the Cherry Creek basin. The reservoir would have 7,000 acre-feet of sediment storage, 38,600 acre-feet of flood control storage, 59,645 acre-feet of surcharge storage below the spillway crest, and would control a drainage area of 175 square miles.. The reservoir would provide storage principally for control of floods, but the sediment reserve zone would be utilized to impound a recreation pool. 2 .