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6. Summary Report, Flood Plain Information for Sand Creek and the Pawnee Creek <br /> Overflow at Sterling, Colorado by Charles F. Leaf and Resource Consultants, Inc., <br /> dated January 1987. <br /> 7. Proposed Near-Term Improvements and Operation of Pioneer Drainage Ditch, <br /> Sterling, Colorado by Charles F. Leaf and Resource Consultants, Inc., dated July <br /> 1988. <br /> 8. Proposed Near-Term Improvement and Operation of Pioneer Ditch, Sterling, <br /> Colorado, "Summary Report" by Charles F. Leaf and Resource Consultants, Inc., <br /> dated July 1988. <br /> 9. Flood Insurance Study, City of Sterling, Colorado, Logan County by Federal <br /> Emergency Management Agency, dated September 29, 1989. <br /> 10. Flood Plain Management Study, Pawnee Creek in Logan County, Colorado by U.S. <br /> Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, dated April 1992. <br /> 11. Section 22 Planning Assistance, Major Drainageway Plan Pioneer Ditch at Sterling, <br /> Colorado by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, dated December 1995. <br /> Description of Flooding Problems <br /> Major flood events have occurred on Pawnee Creek in May 1935, June 1965, and July <br /> 1997. Minor flooding occurred in 1967, 1990 and 1992. Flows in 1935 damaged the <br /> railroad between the City of Sterling and Town of Atwood. Several hundred yards of <br /> HWY 14 west of Sterling were destroyed, and approaches to the Sterling Bridge north of <br /> Atwood, HWY 6, and the bridge and tracks of railroads at the Pawnee Bridge were also <br /> damaged. Discharge estimates from the 1935 event are not available, but the Pawnee <br /> Overflow did operate sending flows into Sterling. <br /> Flooding occurred on June 14 and 15 of 1965 as a result of heavy rainfall on the Pawnee <br /> Creek watershed. Considerable damage occurred throughout the lower reaches of the <br /> watershed. South of Sterling, near Town of Atwood, floodwater overtopped HWY 6 and <br /> the railroad tracks. Pawnee Creek floodwaters also flowed in a northeasterly direction <br /> along HWY 6 and inundated portions of the western section of Sterling. A peak flow <br /> estimate of 35,200 cfs was indirectly measured at the Colorado Highway 14 Bridge <br /> approximately 10 miles upstream from Town of Atwood. The estimated Pawnee <br /> Overflow was 5,000 cfs. <br /> During the week of July 28, 1997, heavy rains caused significant flooding in several areas <br /> including the communities of Fort Collins, Weldona, Town of Atwood, and Sterling (See <br /> Figures 4 and 5 for Photos). Rainfall over the Pawnee Creek watershed on the evening of <br /> July 29th saturated agricultural/range lands and caused major storm runoff in the <br /> tributaries and main channel floodwaters in Pawnee Creek to crest in the Town of <br /> Atwood at approximately 3 PM on July 30. Floodwaters from the Pawnee overflow first <br /> 8 <br />