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<br />places, the width of the 100-year floodplain averages over 1,000 feet, although the depth of <br />flooding is generally less than 3 feet, except in areas where ponding occurs. Hydrologic <br />data from stream gages were not available, thus no discharge and recurrence intervals for <br />major floods along Cooper Slough were determined. <br /> <br />Limited information is available regarding past flooding from Dry Creek. In 1904, a flood <br />occurred that resulted in the drowning death of a child when floodwaters overtopped the <br />Eaton Ditch (which intercepts Dry Creek near Willox Road. Flooding also occurred in <br />1924 with depths of flows several feet deep. However, it is unclear as to whether the <br />flooding was due to overflow from the Cache La Poudre River (Reference 1). <br /> <br />Numerous irrigation canals cross the Dry Creek channel and directly intercept drainage <br />flows. In the past, much of the excess drainage in the lower Dry Creek basin (below Eaton <br />Ditch) was intercepted by irrigation canals. However, the impact of development has <br />increased the magnitude and frequency of drainage flow, and many of the canals no longer <br />have the capacity to intercept the increased drainage flows. Several of the canals, <br />including the Larimer and Weld Canal (Eaton Ditch), Larimer County Canal, Terry Inlet, <br />Poudre Valley Canal, and North Poudre Ditch, have large enough flow capacities to impact <br />flood magnitudes on Dry Creek (Reference 1). <br /> <br />Fish Creek and the Fall River have not often been subject to major flooding, although the <br />Fall River did overflow its banks in 1965 and cause some damage. In July 1982, extensive <br />damage occurred throughout the Town of Estes Park because of the failure of Lawn Lake <br />Dam located in the headwaters of the Fall River. On July 15, 1982, the Lawn Lake Dam <br />on the Roaring River failed. According to the Rocky Mountain News, this catastrophic <br />failure sent "a 3D-foot wall of water down Roaring River...The water swept into Fall <br />River...At about 8 A.M., it slammed into resorts perched on the river's banks at the west <br />end of Estes Park." The Lawn Lake Dam failure caused property damage estimated at $20 <br />to $30 million, and the loss of several lives. The flooding from this event was more <br />extensive than that which would be caused by the 0.2-percent annual chance flood. <br /> <br />The Town of Estes Park has not frequently been subject to damaging flood flows however, <br />the flood of 1965 demonstrated the potential for flooding that does exist, particularly in <br />areas where buildings encroach upon the riverbanks. The 1965 flood, which was the most <br />recent, was the result of a combination of heavy rain and rapid snowmelt on a warm day in <br />June. Rainfall depth over a 2-day period was approximately 1.9 inches. The peak in the <br />Big Thompson River near Lake Estes was approximately double the normal flow. The <br />1965 peak of 1,640 cubic feet per second (cfs) was the most damaging flow in recent <br />history, although flows of this magnitude were also recorded in 1949, 1951, 1953, and <br />1957. Damage from the 1965 event was the result of continued encroachment upon the <br />river channels and blockage of the Fall River culvert at Elkhom Avenue that diverted flows <br />through the center of town. <br /> <br />Documentation of floods on Redstone Creek is relatively sparse. However, an intense <br />rainstorm on September 10, 1938, caused flooding in some of the lower areas of the flood <br />plain (Reference 7). <br /> <br />16 <br />