BOARD01669

• Board Meeting Date: 1/14/1970
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

Bijou Creek basin and 168,000 acres of land
along the South Platte River ar~ subject to
flooding from Bijou Creek flows. In addition
to flooding, erosion and sedimentation are
also major problems during periods of high
water in the Bijou Creek basin. Severe I
erosion damage occurs in the upstream areas
as a result of channel deepening and widening. .
In the wide flood plain areas of the basin
and along the South Platte River, sedimenta-
tion has been a serious problem during flood
periods.

Floods in the Bijou Creek basin are
characterized by a sharp peak and are normally
of a short duration. During flood periods,
large volumes of water are discharged into
the South Platte River. The peak discharge
into the South Platte River during the 1965
flood was 466,000 cubic feet per second, greater
than any flow that has ever been measured on
the Missouri River at Omaha.

During the investigation of the flood
and related water resource problems of the
Bijou Creek basin, we considered the use of
levees, channel improvements, diversions, and
reservoirs to solve or reduce the problems.
Our studies indicated that the construction
of levees, channel improvements or diversions
in the Bijou Creek basin would be economically
infeasible. We found that the most practicable
solution to the Bijou Creek basin's flood and
related water resources problems would be the
construction of dams and reservoirs.

The feasibility of diverting Bijou Creek
flows into the Narrows Project was also in-
vestigated. Diversion would, however, provide
flood control only in the lower reaches of
Bijou Creek and along the South Platte River.
Dams and reservoirs, on the other hand, would
provide flood control in the Bijou Creek basin
and would reduce flood damages along the
South Platte River below Bijou Creek.

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