PROJ02023

• Contract/PO #: FS0044FX
• Contractor Name: Larimer County, Board of County Commissioners
• Contract Type: Miscellaneous
• Water District: 0
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Approval Letter

Water Utilities

Stormwater

MEMORANDUM

City of Fort Collins
DATE: May 9,1996

TO:

Mayor Azari and City Council Members

John F. Fischbach, City ManagercfY ~:~ <-
Mike Smith, Water Utilities General Manag~

Bob Smith, Stormwater Utility Manager ~

Dry Creek Flood Improvements Financing Plan

THRU :

FROM:

RE :

Introduction
There currently exists two needs in the Dry Creek basin to address the drainage problems fu the
area One need is to control floodwaters from the large historically rural basin to the north and
the other is to provide capacity along Dry Creek for drainage inflows from pr~perties in the
urbanized area Under both conditions the capacity of Dry Creek is insufficient to carry these
flows. There is. a need to individually or separately address these needs under separate funding
mechanisms.

Dry Creek Floodwater Diversion Project
The Dry Creek Floodwater Diversion Project is the construction of a diversion channel to divert
Dry Creek flood waters into the Cache La Poudre River and thus remove an area of
approximately 959 acres from the floodplain (Figure 1). Of this area about 63% is in the City
and about 37% is in the County. The project (Figure 2) would remove the area from potential
flood damages, and remove the necessity to purchase flood insurance. Floodplain land use
restrictions for the entire area would be removed. The plan for funding the construction of the
improvements would be for the City and County to jointly issue revenue bonds and apply to the
Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) for low interest loans for the project. Revenues to
pay off the debt service of the bonds and the CWCB loan would be from special assessments
against the properties in the floodplain which benefit by rernoval of the floodplain hazard.

Local Inflow Improvements
The Local Inflow Improvements (Figure 3) include capacity improvements along Dry Creek
below the Floodwater Diversion Project. These are necessary to convey drainage water
generated from properties in this area. These improvements are smaller in size than the diversion
and can be installed over a longer period of time similar to other drainage basins in the City.
These improvements would be paid for by properties in the basin below the dhersion project.

235 Mathews Street. P.O. Box 580 . Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 · [phone] · FAX [phone].