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Willow Creek Reclamation Committee <br />Windy Gulch Project Final Report <br />Windy Gulch Improvement Project Final Report <br />Willow Creek Reclamation Committee, Creede, Colorado <br />Funded by Colorado Watershed Protection Fund -Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />PROJECT SUMMARY: <br />The Willow Creek Reclamation Committee (WCRC) successfully completed the Windy Gulch <br />Improvement Project thanks to funding from the Colorado Watershed Protection Fund and the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). <br />Windy Gulch enters Willow Creek just upstream of the town of Creede in southwestern <br />Colorado. In a flood control study funded by the CWCB, it was found that a metal culvert in <br />Windy Gulch just upstream of Willow Creek was undersized and could not convey a 10-year <br />flood. Flooding at the culvert would cause waters to flow into historic downtown Creede and <br />potentially cut off emergency access to the local fire station. It was also found that a portion of <br />the levee near Windy Gulch that directs Willow Creek into the flume that conveys water through <br />Creede did not have the full three-foot freeboard above modeled 100-year flood levels that would <br />be required to remove downtown Creede from FEMA floodplain maps. Therefore, the goals of <br />the Windy Gulch kmprovement Project were to replace the Windy Gulch culvert with a culvert <br />with capacity to pass a 100-year flood and to ensure that the flume forebay levees had a full <br />three-foot freeboard above 100-year flood levels. <br />Constn~ction of the project began in October of 2005, and was completed in November of 2006. <br />A 3-foot rise by 10-foot wide precast concrete box culvert was installed in Windy Gulch. <br />Headwalls and wingwalls were cast that will contain a 100-year flood through the culvert. The <br />low section of levee was also built up with up to 2 feet of material to more than three foot above <br />the projected 100-year flood levels in Willow Creek. The project should help protect the city of <br />Creede from flooding, should help maintain emergency services during flood events, and should <br />improve stream stability during large stream flows. <br />The WCRC directly managed the construction and provided much of the labor for the project. <br />Due to this, the project was successfully completed under budget. <br />The WCRC sincerely appreciates the support of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the <br />Colorado Watershed Protection Fund for mal~ing this project possible. A cast bronze plaque <br />aclalowledging both agencies has been purchased and will be placed at the site. <br />