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4.1 SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN 4.1.1 South Platte River Flood History, Flooding along the South Platte River normally occurs from May through September w~h the most frequent flooding occurring during June, Serious floods, however, have occurred from f;ebruary through December. Floods normally occur uncleI' non-ice affected conditions, ICEI jams, however, are possible even though their historical frequency of occurrence is rare, Flood of 184!L Floodwaters purportedly covered the bottom lands in Denver vicinity from bluff to bluff, Flood of 1864, Three separate floods caused by heavy rains over snow occurred during May and June on the South Platte River, A resident of Platleville later described the flood of mid,May at that location as the largest flood he had observed prior to 1925, Flooding occurred in late May and again in early to mid-June, The South Platte River flood in Weld County was augmented downstream from Denver by tributary inflow from both the mountain and plains tributaries, Flood of 1876, The flood of late May 1876 resulted from rainfall on snowpack, It was reputed to have been the highest flood since 1864, Flood of 1894, Heavy rainfall over the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains caused flooding on the South Platte River in late May and early June, Floodwaters purportedly covered hundreds of acres in the Brush vicinity, Oldtimers said the South Platte River was "fully two miles wide", The Fort Morgan Times of 8 June 1894 stated that "for 24 hours on 2 June, the flood touched the caps on the top of the bridge piling", Considerable inflow resulted from such streams as Clear Creek, Boulder Creek, and SI. Vrain Creek, Flood of 1921, Heavy rainfall over much of the lJpper South Platte River basin caused flooding in Weld County in early June, Between Brighton and Orchard, the wooden bridges were impassable; two were destroyed and the approaches to the others were destroyed for a distance of several hundred yards, At Fort Morgan, the water surface crest was comparable to that of the flood of 1894, The discharge of this flood at Kersey and at Balzac was the largest ever recorded at that location except for the flood of May 1973 and the flood of June 1965, respectively, Flood of 1935, Rains of cloudburst intensity over the basins of the plains tributaries to the South Platte River east of Denver occurred on 30-31 May following th'l wettest May in Colorado in 48 years, It was reported that a "veritable wall of water" appeared on l3ijou Creek about 4 miles upstream from ~s confluence with the South Platte River. The flood crest reached Fort Morgan on 31 May and was reported to be 10 feet above flood stage having a discharge of 84,300 cubic feet per second, Although the flood crest attenuated rapidly downstream from Fort Morgan, the floodwater reached the Union Pacific Railroad grade near Crook, Colorado, Flood of 1938. Heavy rainfall during the period from 30 AU!Just to 4 September over much of the upper South Platte River basin caused flooding on many of the mountain streams tributary to the South Platte as well as the South Platte itself. Relatively minor flooding was reported on the South Platte River, Colorado Flood Hydrology Manual 4.2 DRAFr