BOARD00226

• Board Meeting Date: 4/1/1970
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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MR. STAPLETON I

MR. THOMAS I

the metropolitan growth continues, and it will
continue, the probability of damaging floods
originating below Mt. Carbon and below Chatfield
and below Cherry Creek increases. This is be-
cause of the miles of asphalt, concrete and homes
that are drastically altering the runoff pattern
of the river. What 20 or 30 years ago caused no
damages at all now creates many millions of .
dollars of damages. This kind of thing will only
get worse in the future. Our staff, at least,
considers that to give any degree of protection
along the South Platte River we must improve the
channel by a system of levees and straightening
so that the channel can safely carry the flood
waters.

We have asked the Corps of Engineers, Omaha
District, to explain its position in this
matter."

"Then I'd like to call on Mr. Charles F.
Thomas, Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, to
make a statement."

"Mr. Chairman, Board members, I'll try not
to repeat some of the germane things that Mr.
Sparks has said. I'll give you a few of the
facts on this channel as it was planned back
in about 1954.

At that time there was a length of levee
and channel included here: not continuous levee
but continuously part and intermittent other
parts of about 121 miles. These were relatively
low levees of about 9 feet in average height of
conventional earth construction. perhaps more
noteworthy in this particular stretch of the
river, there was some 78 drop structures in-
cluded which were for control of channel bed
levels and also to furnish the required loca-
tions for irrigation diversions of which there
are many down that particular channel. The
average drop on these would have been about 5
feet each. Estimated costs in 1954, total costs,
were about $34 million. We do not, as of this