Minutes of South Platte River Basin Flood Control Investigation Meeting

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a Colorado State Soil 3130 Zuni Street Denver, Colorado Conservation Board The Boards of Supervisors of the West Arapahoe and West Adams Soil Conservation Districts are hereby making formal request to the State Soil Conservation Board that a joint investigation of Sand Creek and tributaries be made by the Corps.of Engineers and the Soil Conservation Service to determine economic justification of flood control improvements under existing Flood Control Acts of the two agencies. 1. S_ ize of Watershed Approximately 180 square miles. Approximately 115 acres. 2. _Location of Watershed With Attached Map Description of Basin. Sand Creek is an intermittent right bank tributary to the South Platte River. It originates in Elbert County and flows northwesterly through a rolling -sandy region to the South Platte River 1.25 miles north of Denver city limits. The basin is 32 miles in length, 9 miles wide at its extremities and has a drainage area of 180 square miles. Tollgate and Murphy Creeks are major tributaries to Sand Creek, Tollgate Creek originates at the Cherry Creek divide near the Cherry Creek Dam and runs northeasterly to its confluence with Sand Creek due north of Fitzsimons Hospital. See attached map. The streams are normally very sandy with minor channel restrictions. This.watershed touches five counties: Douglas, Elbert, Arapahoe, Adams and Denver City and County. 3. Watershed Problems The earliest report of flood record in the watershed was June 1896. Since that time floods on record are June 1912 June 1917, June 1921, September 1933, September 1938, May 30, 1948 and May 8, 1957. The only floods for which estimates were made of the discharges. were the floods of May 1948 and May 1957. The peak discharges on Sand Creek were estimated by slope area measurements to be 10 c.f.s. for the 1948 flood, and 25,000 c.f.s. for the 1957 f Iood. These measurements were made near the mouth of Sand Creek.