Amended Work Plan Kiowa Creek Watershed

Home Browse Search

- 2 - Technical services are to be furnished by the Soil Conservation Service. The Kiowa Soil Conservation District, under provisions of Colorado enabling legislation, has agraed to be responsible for over -all periodic inspection of the project and for maintenance of flood water retarding structures and other measures. The land owners and operators will be responsible for the maintenance of the land treatment measures, in accordance with their coop- erative agreements with the District. Virtually all of the land in the project area is under private ownership. The State owned land (two sections) is leased to private operators. DESCRIPTION OF THE WATERSHED PROTECTION PROJECT AREA Location and Size Kiowa Creek has its headwaters in the Black Forest area about 20 miles northeast of Colorado Springs. It flows north and slightly east about 90 miles to its junction with the South Platte River some 15 miles west of Fort Morgan, Colorado. The altitude in the headwaters is slightly in excess of 7,700 feet while at the mouth it is just under 4,500 feet. Kiowa Creek originates in E1 Paso County and flows through Elbert, Arapahoe, &dams, geld, and Morgan Counties. There are four small towns along the creek: Elbert, Kiowa, Bennett, and Wiggins. The watershed project covered by this work plan consists of that part of Kiowa Creek above the town of Kiowa, the northern boundary of the project area. The watershed within the project area is approximately 30 miles long and varies in width from one to seven miles, totaling 118 square miles. The two main branches of Kiowa Creek (East and West Kiowa Creeks) have their beginning in Township 12 South, Range 65 nest of the Sixth Principal Meridian in E1 Paso County, Colorado. The small towns of Kiowa and Elbert, located on the stream, are the only settlements within the project area. The area is served by State Highway 86 which runs east and west through Kiowa, and State Highway 157 running north to Bennett and South from Kiowa into the headwaters area. The only railroad serving this area was abandoned following the 1935 flood. With the exception of 700 acres near the south boundary of the area which are in the Black Squirrel Soil Con- servation District, the entire project is within the boundary of the Kiowa Soil Conservation District. Physical Characteristics The drainage ways are steep, averaging around 50 feet of fall per mile on the main streams and from 100 to 200 feet per mile along the sub - drainage ways. The watershed soils are generally sandy and quite erosive, These soils have developed principally from the Dawson xrkose formation but small areas on the divide are developed on the Castlerock conglomerate. They are relatively shallow and grade into a little coarser textured mate- rial above the confluence of East and West Kiowa Creeks. Most of the cultivated soils have a medium textured surface, moderate permeability, and a depth of from 20 to 36 inches over gravel.