BOARD00021

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

and was able to follow the flood crest down
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throughout the flood period.

The result of these floods was not sur-
prising. The flooded regions had been long
. figured as danger areas, vIi th one exception.
The only thing that surprised everyone was the
flood which occurred belo\'1 John Hartin Reser-
voir. As a Qatter of fact, I was airborne up
in this area (pointing) following the Bijou
flood when I got word that Lamar, Granada and
Holly were being flooded. I didn't believe it
so I delayed a little bit getting dovm there.
vllien I arrived there I did believe it. We
circled and came over the AD,ansas above John
Hartin, follovled down through John Hartin, and
salll that all the creeks were at flood stage.
The gates IIlere closed at John Hartin and the
river was dry. I didn't see how Lamar, Granada
and Holly could be flooded. Nevertheless, the
minute I got belm'l John Hartin I Sa\. the reason
why. Every little dry creek looked like the
Arkansas River, and this was the case both to
the' :north and to the south. ,'llien I arrived at
Holly the river was about two miles wide. Just
in a short stretch of the river this tremendous
body of water developed. Lamar, Granada and
Holly were about 90 percent inundated. In some
of the homes the water was four and five fp-et
deep. Not from the river per se but from all
the many tributaries. This was the only thing
which completely surprised us, the flood which
occurred below John Martin.

To get back to particular plans, for the
original Narrows project it was contemplated
that the Bijou would be channeled into the
Narrows, Reservoir. This meant the creation of
a new channel for Bijou Creek and a system of
dikes to divert the Bijou directly into the
Narrows Reservoir.' This would have occurred
had the project been constructed as originally
planned and as was started in 1943. However,
in the reanalysis of the Narrows Project the
Corps of Engineers '''as unable to come up wi th
enough benefits .to justify the cost of this
channeling of the Bijou into the Narrows. The

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