FLOOD10404

• Designation Number: 128
• County: Larimer
• Community: Larimer County and Unincorporated Areas
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: FIS - Larimer County and Unincorporated Areas
• Date: 9/1/1978
• Designation Date: 1/31/1979
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Historic FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

2.0 AREA STUDIED

2.1 Scope of Study

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This Flood Insurance study. covers the unincorporate areas of
Larimer County, Colorado. The area of study is sho n on the Vicinity
Map (Figure 1).

The following streams were studied in detail: Big
North Fork Big Thompson River; Big Thompson River T
3 and 4; Long Gulch; Rabbit Gulch; Quillan Gulch; W
Creek; Dark Gulch; Devils Gulch; Bobcat Gulch; Ceda
Poudre River; Box Elder Creek; Buckhorn Creek; Reds
River; Fish Creek; Noel's Draw; Dickson Gulch; Dry
Fork; Dry Creek; Dark Gulch, Glade Road Overflow; a

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hompson River;
ibutaries 1, 2,
st Creek; Fox
Creek; Cache La
one Creek; Fall
ulch; Miller
d Fox Creek.

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Those areas studied by detailed methods were chosen with considera-
tion given to all proposed construction and forecas ed development
through 1982.

The upper and lower reaches of the Cache La Poudre
and southeast of Fort Collins and the Little Thomps
studied by approximate methods, due to the limited
development.

2.2 Community Description

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iver northwest
n River were
lood plain

Larimer County is located in north-central Colorado, bounded by the
Continental Divide to the west, Wyoming to the nort , Weld County to
the east and Boulder County to the south. The coun ly encompasses ~IJ
approximately 2614 square miles of which approximately 50 percent is
publicly owned. The terrain ranges from steep moun ainous areas in
the west to gently rolling plains in the east.

Historically, the economy has consisted of irrigated farming in the
southeast and dryland farming and grazing in the nor heast, although
the eastern section is rapidly urbanizing. The indu try in the
western portion of the county consists mainly of tou ism, with some
ranching and timber operations.

The county has grown rapidly since 1960 as shown in he following
estimates: 1960-53,343 persons; 1970-89,900 persons; and 1975-
117,738 persons (Reference 1).

The climate varies from the mountains in the west to the eastern
plains. The average annual temperature in the weste n part of the
county is in the low forties, with annual precipitati n of approximately
16 inches. The eastern portion of the county has an average tempera-
ture of 500F and annual precipitation of approximate y 14 inches
(Reference 2).

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