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<br />) <br /> <br />OOl~24 <br /> <br />1. General. During 1999, activities ofthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. <br />Albuquerque District (Corps), in the Arkansas River Basin consisted of reservoir <br />regulation, flood-control related studies, flood plain management services, <br />regulation under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and emergency assistance. <br /> <br />2. Flood Control Operations. Major flooding occurred on the Arkansas River <br />and virtually all it's tributaries between Pueblo and John Martin Reservoir <br />including Fountain Creek, St Charles, Huerfano, and Purgatoire Rivers in late <br />April and early May. In the Fountain Creek drainage, minor flooding began on <br />the morning of April 29th and escalated throughout the day reaching peaks in <br />excess of 20,000 cfs. The Arkansas River began to flood on April 30th and <br />reached a peak in excess of 30,000 cfs before reaching John Martin Dam. <br />Reservoir operations during this event were as follows: <br /> <br />Pueblo Reservoir - On April 30th, the release from Pueblo was cut to 100 cfs <br />and the reservoir began to capture inflow. A peak reservoir inflow of 10, 600 cfs <br />was recorded on April 30th. <br /> <br />The project had been operating under a deviation while structural modifications <br />were made below the dam to address dam safety concerns. On May 2nd, with <br />the modifications about 90% complete, the Bureau of Reclamation requested a <br />change to the existing deviation. This request recognized that there was a <br />significant reduction in dam safety risk and thus the potential for additional <br />irrigation storage. The Corps approved this change on May 3rd allowing the <br />project to store to the full capacity of the conservation pool. <br />On May 8th, the lake elevation reached the top of the conservation pool and <br />releases to pass inflow began. <br /> <br />Trinidad Lake - The resel'Voir began to see a significant increase in inflow by <br />mid morning on April 30th and began to store inflow. A peak reservoir inflow of <br />3,000 cfs was recorded on May 3rd. On June 20th the top of the conservation <br />pool was reached for the first time and releases were adjusted to pass inflow. <br />On August 8th, a new record pool elevation of 6230.35 was recorded as a result <br />of a localized thunderstorm above the project. <br /> <br />John Martin Reservoir- The reservoir began to see a significant increase in <br />inflow on the morning of May 2nd as the flood waters reached the reservoir. <br />Flood releases began when the conservation pool was topped off on May 2nd. A <br />maximum inflow of 30,600 cfs was recorded on May 3rd. The reservoir elevation <br />continued to rise and reached a new record peak on May 9th of 3860.45, filling <br />43% of the flood space. The previous record peak elevation was 3856.80, which <br />occurred on May 31, 1987. As per flood release criteria, flows from the dam <br />were regulated to not exceed 3,000 cfs at the Coolidge, KS river gage. Releases <br />were adjusted up or down to accommodate intervening downstream flow and <br />irrigation demand. Flood releases from John Martin Dam continued throughout <br /> <br />1 <br />