9468

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9468
• Author: Colorado Water Conservation Board.
• Title: Floodplain Information Report\
• USFW Year: 1995.
• Copyright Material: NO

' 3.0 HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS
3.1 Existing Data
For locations where existing detailed hydrologic analyses were available, those analyses were used
to obtain peak 50-year and 100-year flows. For some other locations, statistical analyses of
stream gages provided by the USGS were available.
Published floodplain studies prepared by Merrick and Company for Meeker, Colorado provided
50-year and 100-year flows above the upstream limit of this study. Floodplain studies prepared
by FEMA for Rangely and unincorporated Rio Bianco County provided 50-year and 100-year
flows near the downstream limit of this study. In addition, USGS gage analyses were available
' for two tributary streams.
3.2 New Hydrologic Information
Hydrologic analyses of the 50-year and 100-year flood flows for the remainder of the hydrologic
points along the study reaches of the White River were accomplished by interpolation of the
known flow values. The frequency analysis of the USGS gage for the White River near Rangely
was not included in the hydrologic analyses due to the limited number of years of data available
at that site and the inconsistency between flow versus drainage area values for the gage and the
published values at Meeker and Rangely. The three known values and the corresponding
drainage areas were entered into a curve fitting computer program which selects an equation that
provides a close description of the plotted curve. The curve fitting program computed the flows
at the other hydrologic points on the White River locations by using the drainage areas at each
location for which flows needed to be calculated.
The equation for the White River below Rio Blanco Reservoir is:
Q=1 ot+c/Logn
where: Q = 50-year or 100-year flow;
A = drainage area;
k = a constant; and
c = an exponent
The form of the equation is the same for the entire study reach, but the coefficients are different
for the two frequencies.
White River
Downstream of Rio Blanco Lake for 50-year frequency: k= 6.271, c= -7.486
for 100-year frequency: k= 7.157, c= -10.002
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