Laserfiche WebLink
- 4 - <br />This watershed lies within what is known as the Julesberg Basin, the <br />large area in which oil explorations are now active. The limited ex- <br />ploration which has been done in this watershed is not adequate to deter- <br />mine the future possibilities for oil or gas production. <br />FLOOD AND EROSION PROBLEMS AND DAMAGES <br />Flood Damage <br />The lower part of this project area has been subject to flood water and <br />sediment damages nearly every year. Major floods occurred in 1920, 1921, <br />1925, 1933, 1935, and 1945. Probably the worst flood of recent times <br />occurred in 1935 when seven lives were lost and property damage totaled <br />over $2,000,000. <br />A branch of the Colorado and Southern Railway formerly ran through Elbert. <br />The 1935 flood damaged this railroad so severely that it was completely <br />abandoned. The annual direct flood water and sediment damages in the <br />watershed covered by this work plan are estimated to average 449,550. In- <br />direct damages chargeable to floods, such as business losses and travel <br />interruptions, are estimated at $4,950 annually. Total average annual <br />flood damages under present conditions, as summarized in Table 4, is <br />$54,500. <br />The watershed is subject to rainstorms of very high intensity but short <br />duration. This type of storm and the steep gradient of the stream channels <br />produce flash floods with high peaks but comparatively small volumes of <br />water. Water velocities are high causing severe gullying and carrying <br />large sediment loads for short distances. <br />Erosion Damage <br />Land and crops are damaged by the erosive velocity of the water and <br />its sediment load more than by being covered with water for long periods. <br />Throughout the watershed sheet and gully erosion are in evidence* x re- <br />cent survey shows that 80 per cent of the dry crop land has been moderately <br />affected by erosion. Only the most careful farmers have been able to <br />control blowing and washing of their fields. This problem is especially <br />acute where land having capability Classes VI and VII is under continuous <br />cultivation in violation of good conservation farming practices. Some <br />Class IV lands have been cultivated too long and are being eroded. Gully <br />and sheet erosion are also active in pastures where the management is not <br />adequate to protect the land. <br />Channel Enlargement and Filling and Overbank Deposition <br />Sterile sand eroded from the upper watershed is carried downstream to <br />the flatter pasture, hay and crop lands where it is deposited in varying <br />depths up to six feet. These deposits not only kill the current crop <br />but they must be removed or spread out in a thin layer before the land <br />can again grow grasses or cultivated crops. This partial rehabilitation <br />costs X50 to 4150 an acre and has not been widely undertaken due to the <br />danger of recurring floods. <br />