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<br />lower reaches and conifer forests mixed with grass in the upper reaches. The channel is <br />generally rough with many cobbles. The principal damage from flooding would be to <br />some ranches and scattered cabins. <br /> <br />The tributaries to the Fryingpan River-Taylor Creek, Downey Creek, <br />Seven Castles Creek, Otto Creek, and Frenchman Creek-are all approximately 0.5 mile <br />long. They all have steep, narrow channels approximately 2 feet deep and a slope of <br />approximately 120 feet per mile. The floodplains are approximately 10 feet to 50 feet <br />wide, and virtually no development has occurred in the floodplains. <br /> <br />The exception is Taylor Creek, which has a floodplain width of 40 feet to 100 feet and a <br />few residential dwellings in the floodplain. The vegetation along all these tributaries is <br />similar to that of the Fryingpan River. <br /> <br />Brush Creek flows north tq northwest from the mountains of the northern Sawatch Range <br />into the Eagle River near the western end of the Town of Eagle. At Eagle, it has a steep, <br />shallow channel with a slope of approximately 90 feet per mile. The width of the channel <br />is approximately 30 feet, and its depth is approximately 1 foot to 2 feet. The streambed <br />is steep and narrow downstream of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, with a <br />width of approximately 70 feet; in the upper reaches, it ranges in width from <br />approxmiately 200 feet to 400 feet. The floodplain is generally covered with natural <br />grasses, willow bushes, and cottonwood trees. A trailer park and several other dwellings <br />are in the floodplain in the area of study near the Town of Eagle. <br /> <br />The Roaring Fork River originates in the Sawatch Range at an elevation above <br />14,000 feet, travels approximately 37 miles to the Town of Basalt, and flows along the <br />west side of the town. At the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Fryingpan Rivers, <br />53 percent of the total drainage of the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork River basins collect. <br /> <br />The Roaring Fork River restudy was prepared for 9.6 river miles, beginning at the <br />GarfieldlEagle County boundary and continuing upstream through Eagle County, the <br />Town of Basalt, and Pitkin County to the confluence with Snowmass Creek. <br /> <br />The Roaring Fork River is a major tributary to the Colorado River. The headwaters of <br />the Roaring Fork River emerge above the City of Aspen and continue approximately <br />60 miles downstream to the confluence with the Colorado River at the City of <br />Glenwood Springs. At the confluence, the Roaring Fork River has a 1,460-sq.-mi. <br />drainage basin. Major tributaries to the Roaring Fork River are the Crystal River, the <br />Fryingpan River, Maroon Creek, Castle Creek, and Hunter Creek. <br /> <br />The Roaring Fork River bank-full channel in the study area is approximately 90 feet to <br />120 feet wide as it flows through an alluvial valley. The average channel grade is <br />0.0127 foot per foot upstream of the Town of Basalt, transitioning to 0.0087 foot per foot <br />west of the town. The lower study reach has an average grade of approximately <br />0.007 foot per foot. The stream channel is braided, with a bed composed mostly of <br />gravel, cobbles, and small round boulders ranging from 6.inches to IS inches in <br />diameter. There are many riffles, rapids, and shallow pools along its course. Several <br />irrigation ditches divert from the Roaring Fork along this reach. In most areas, the <br />riverbanks are low with steep slopes (often over 45 degrees), and are composed mostly <br />of sand, gravel, and cobbles, with little or no vegetation below the mean annual <br /> <br />10 <br />