FLOOD10582

• County: Garfield
• Community: Silt
• Title: FIS - Silt
• Date: 8/2/2006
• Prepared For: Silt
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Current FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

The areas studied by detailed methods were selected with priority given to all known
flood hazards and areas of proj ected development or proposed construction.

2.2 Community Description

The Town of Silt is located in central Garfield County, along the Colorado River and 1-70, in
northwestern Colorado. It is situated approximately 20 miles west of Glenwood Springs,
Colorado, and approximately 8 miles east of Rifle, Colorado. Unincorporated areas of
Garfield County border the city on all sides (Reference 1). The population in the year 2004
for the Town of Silt was estimated by the u.s. Census Bureau to be 1,740 (Reference 2).

Early settlers of the area were miners and prospectors who later turned to irrigated agriculture.
Around 1920, 40 families were brought to the Silt area from New York State by the
Midland Railroad Company to operate coal mines. The railroad failed a short time later, but
the families remained in the vicinity and began farming (Reference 3).

Agriculture is still the region's basic industry. Several thousand acres of rangeland and
National Forest reserves surround the cultivated areas and are used for summer livestock
grazing. Most irrigated farmland is devoted to the production of alfalfa, grain, and native hay
for livestock feed; a small acreage is used for the production of fruit and truck crops
(Reference 4).

With an average elevation of 5,438 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD)
(Reference 4), the town's climate is semi-arid with an average annual rainfall of 13 inches
(Reference 5).

All streams in the Town of Silt are direct or indirect tributaries to the Colorado River, which
flows westerly through the southern portion of the community.

2.3 Principal Flood Problems

In the vicinity of the Town of Silt, the Colorado River is a braided river subject to flood flows
of relatively long duration and large volume resulting from snowmelt. The south bank of the
river rises steeply and forms a substantial barrier for flood flows, while the north bank rises
more gently and potentially subjects the town to periodic inundation.

The area in and around the Town of Silt is also subject to intense cloudbursts and mudslides.
The nearby towns of New Castle and Rifle have extensive documentation of flooding. The
Town of New Castle (10 miles east of the Town of Silt), experienced significant flooding
from mudslides because of a severe localized storm in August 2001 (1.5 inches of rain in
15 minutes) (Reference 6). In addition, the City of Rifle (8 miles west of the Town of Silt)
experienced extreme flooding along Rifle Creek during a 2-hour cloudburst in August of
1930, which claimed the life of a State Highway patrolman (Reference 7).

2.4 Flood Protection Measures

There are no flood-control structures within the Town of Silt.

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