FLOOD10333

• County: Eagle
• Community: Vail
• Stream Name: Gore Creek and Tributaries
• Title: Hydrology Report, Gore Creek and Tributaries
• Date: 4/5/1999
• Prepared For: Vail
• Prepared By: J.F. Sato and Associates
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

A review of a plot of the discharges for specific frequencies versus their drainage areas shows
that the three smallest basins, all of which have areas under four square miles plot low when
compared to other stations. These three stations were located close to Gore Creek, but were at
high elevations that exceeded 9000 feet msl. They were eliminated from the final regression
analysis to avoid distorting the lower end of the regression range. The following seventeen
streamgaging stations were used in the final regression analyses.

IDNo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Station Name
Bighorn Cr. Nr. Minturn
Pitkin Creek Nr. Minturn
Middle Cr. Nr. Minturn
Booth Cr. Nr. Minturn
Red Sandstone Cr. Nr. Minturn
Black Gore Cr. Nr. Minturn
Piney River Below Piney Lake Nr. Minturn
Gore Cr. at Upper Station Nr. Minturn
Beaver Creek at Avon
Turkey Cr. Nr. Red Cliff
Homestake Cr. at Gold Park
Eagle River at Red Cliff
Brush Cr. Nr. Eagle (Discontinued 1972)
Gore Cr. Lower Station at Vail
Piney River Nr. State Bridge
Gore Cr. at Mouth, Nr. Minturn
Eagle River at Eagle (1911 - 1924)

Drainage
Area (Sq Mi)
4.54
5.32
5.94
6.02
7.32
12.6
13.0
14.4
14.8
23.8
36.0
70.0
71.4
77.1
86.2
101
629

The regression equations were used to develop discharges for specific frequencies on ungaged
tributaries. Spraddle Creek was an exception to this general rule. It is the only stream in the
study that has a drainage area less than four square miles (2.2 sq. mi.). The discharges developed
by GAl during previous studies using rainfall-runoff relationships were adopted for this one
small area.

The discharges for the main stem Gore Creek plotted significantly above the average data points
from the stream gaging records. Discharges for ungaged reaches on the main stem were
determined using the three gages on that stream. One of those new stations, Gore Creek Lower
Station at Vail with 77.1 square miles of area, is in the Gore Creek study reach. It has 9 years of
record that were extended by adjusting 6 years of data for an upstream gage that had been in
place from 1974 through 1979 for a total 15 year record. Annual peak flows recorded for the
57.3 square mile upstream drainage area were adjusted to the downstream location based on the
ratio of their respective are:as raised to the 0.7 power. While the 6-year adjustment had little
impact on the final results, the longer record is a little more reliable. The Gore Creek gage at the
mouth has 14 years ofpealc flow data and the gage upstream from the confluence with Black
Gore Creek has 40 years of data.

7