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<br />some industrial development along Prospect Street and some commercial <br />development along U.S. Highway 287. The soils within the Spring <br />Creek and Spring Creek Overflow flood plains are Fluvaquents-Fluvents <br />and Nunn-Fort Collins Associations (Reference 4). <br /> <br />The Dry Creek study reach is approximately 1.9 miles long. The <br />stream is a tributary of the Cache La poudre River, which flows from <br />the northwest in a southeasterly direction to its confluence with <br />the Cache La Poudre River on the eastern corporate limits of Fort <br />Collins. The development along the stream consists of sparsely <br />populated farmland and rangeland north of Fort Collins and scattered <br />residential development through the City of Fort Collins. The <br />channel is approximately 3 to 4 feet deep and 10 to 15 feet wide <br />from the downstream limit to Andersonville, after which the channel <br />is basically nonexistent to the upstream limit of the study. The <br />stream channel gradient within the study reach is approximately 18 <br />feet per mile. The soils within the Dry Creek basin flood plain <br />are Fluvaquents-Fluvents and Otero-Nelson Associations (Reference 4). <br /> <br />2.3 Principal Flood Problems <br /> <br />The main cause of floods in the Fort Collins area is intense rainfall, <br />which normally occurs in the period of May through September. The <br />Cache La poudre River flooding could also increase in May and June, <br />as a result of increased runoff from snowmelt. <br /> <br />Notable floods occurred on the Cache La Poudre River in 1844, 1864, <br />1884, 1891, 1904, 1923, and 1930. The three largest floods occurred <br />in 1864, 1891, and 1904, with flood peaks of approximately 21,000 <br />cubic feet per second (cfs). The 1904 flood probably did the greaTest <br />financial damage. During this flood, approximately 150 houses were <br />swept away, and all the bridges were destroyed except one. The <br />largest flood in the past 47 years was in 1938 with a flood peak of <br />6180 cfs (Reference 1). <br /> <br />Floods occurred on Spring Creek in 1902, 1904, 1938, 1949, and 1951 <br />prior to the completion of Horsetooth Reservoir, which cuts off the <br />upper portion of the Spring Creek Drainage basin. The Horsetooth <br />Reservoir was completed in the early 1950s and has helped reduce <br />flooding problems by reducing the drainage area. The most recent <br />floods occurred in 1975 and 1977, causing flooding in several base- <br />ments, but there are no recorded discharges or damage.estimates <br />available (Reference 5). <br /> <br />Dry Creek has not had a major flood in the Fort Collins area; there- <br />fore, no information is available. <br /> <br />4 <br />