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<br />Longmont to over 14,000 feet at Longs Peak. The waters <br />of the St. Vrain Creek have been appropriated for munici- <br />pal and irrigation usage. <br /> <br />The St. Vrain Creek is a continuous flowing stream that <br />drains the east slope of the Continental Divide by way <br />of North and South St. Vrain Creeks. From the confluence <br />of these creeks at Lyons, Colorado, the st. Vrain Creek <br />flows southeasterly through Longmont, thence northeaster- <br />ly to the South Platte River. Left Hand Creek, Dry Creek, <br />Spring Gulch, and the Loomiller Basin join the St. Vrain <br />Creek within the Prime Urbanized Area. <br /> <br />~~. <br /> <br />The topography of the St. Vrain Creek, Left Hand Creek, <br />and Dry Creek Basins range from rugged and heavily <br />forested Rocky Mountain canyons in the west, to slightly <br />rolling prairie land near Longmont, where pasture and <br />crop lands border stream banks lined with willow brush <br />and cottonwood trees. Spring Gulch has a basin which <br />extends up to Terry Lake, but has a channel only from <br />15th Avenue to St. Vrain Creek. Loomiller Basin lies <br />entirely within Longmont's City limits. <br /> <br />Commercial and residential development abound in the flood <br />plains of all the streams studied. On the St. Vrain <br />Creek, from Airport Road to the confluence with Dry Creek, <br />industrial and commercial buildings, farms, and mobile <br />home parks share the flood plain with gravel mining sites. <br />The Dry Creek flood plain is occupied by both commercial <br />buildings and single family dwellings from Sunset Street <br />to the confluence with St. Vrain Creek. Development along <br />Spring Gulch is also represented by pasture land and a <br />linear park bounded by single-family dwellings from 15th <br />Avenue to 3rd Avenue. Commercial and industrial build- <br />ings occupy the Spring Gulch flood plain from Third <br />Avenue to the confluence with St. Vrain Creek. The <br />Loomiller Basin is totally developed with residential <br />and commercial buildings. <br /> <br />2.3 Principal Flood Problems <br /> <br />p <br /> <br />The St. Vrain Creek flows through Longmont in a broad <br />channel bed of shifting sandbars bound by banks 10 to <br />15 feet high. Left Hand Creek, Dry Creek, and Spring <br />Gulch flow in relatively steep, narrow channels. The <br />overbanks of all the streams studied are relatively flat, <br />with the exception of the north overbanks of the Saint <br />vrain Creek and Left Hand Creek, which rise more steeply. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />6 <br />