BOARD00021

• Board Meeting Date: 7/12/1965
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

o.rL:;J:;J

I

These rains generally followed a circular
pattern, starting to the south and then moving
on to the north. As they came close to the
Continental Divide they diverted and almost
made a circular pattern in every case. with
each succeeding day the front was pushed a
little to the east and the rains started mov-
ing further and further away from the Continen-
tal Divide.

On the l6th heavy rains began to fall in
the Castle Rock area, actually on the divide
between the Arkansas River and the South Platte
River in the Monument Lake-Palmer area. Very
heavy rains fell there with a magnitude of
about six to eight inches in some places. Most
of the precipitation fell in the Plum Creek
and the Cherry Creek drainages and a very high
crest developed within a matter of hours on the
plum Creek drainage which, 1f,hen channeled into
the rather small channel of the South Platte
in Denver, caused the considerable damage that
was done. In total quantity of water it was
not much.

I

On succeeding days heavy rains fell again
from south to north, both in the Arkansas and
in the South Platte drainages, concentrating
primarily on the Arkansas, just east of John
Martin Reservoir and on the South Platte on
the Bijou drainage in this general area through
here (pointing to the map). Again this rain
moved in a circular pattern but a little further
east than the earlier rain which hit the plum
Creek drainage. The heaviest precipitation by
far fell in the Arkansas Valley and the great-
est total destruction was in the AD.ansas
valley below John }mrtin Reservoir. However,
in the dollar figures it was not as great
because there is not the industrial and popu-
lation complex in the Arkansas as there is in
the Denver area. The greatest total destruc-
tion was in the area below John Martin Reser-
voir.

I was airborne during most of these floods