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<br />from intense rainstorms typically create severe erosion damages in a short period of time due to the <br />relatively large peak discharge and high velocity of the floodwater, Erosion damages from snowmelt <br />or general rainstorm floods usually result from prolonged exposure of the floodwater because of the <br />long duration typical of these floods, <br /> <br />Intense rainstorm floods as well as general rainstorm floods have occurred on the South Platte River, <br />Examples of the intense storms are the 1965 events on Plum Creek and Bijou Creek and the 1976 <br />event on the Big Thompson River Examples of the larger more generalized storms are the 1969 and <br />1973 events producing flooding on the South Platte Fliver <br /> <br />3,3,2 Arkansas River <br /> <br />Basin Description- The Arkansas River is formed by the East Fork and Tennessee Fork, which unit <br />near Malta. From the junction to Parkdale, the Arkansas River flows through a succession of narrow <br />valleys dMded by short canyons, At Parkdale, the river plunges into the Royal Gorge, emerging from <br />it just above Canon City, and below that, flOWS tllrough a valley increasing in width as far as Pueblo, <br />Beyond Pueblo, the river flows across the plains to the State Line and then into Kansas, <br /> <br />Flooding Characteristics- Above the Royal Gorge, the Arkansas River is not subject to heavy floods, <br />A few of its upper tributaries are subject to clouclbursl floods, but the volume of these floods are too <br />small to seriously affect the Arkansas itself, <br /> <br />3,3,3 Colorado River <br /> <br />Basin DescriDtion- The Colorado River rises in Middle Park, its source being on the east slope of <br />Mount Richtofen, which has a height of 13,000 feet on the Contintal Divide, Throughout most of its <br />course in Colorado, the river flows through canyons and narrow valleys, Near Palisade, it enters Grand <br />Valley, then flows to the Colorado-Utah State line, <br /> <br />Flooding Characteristics- Since records were started at Grand Junction in 1897, the Colorado has not <br />been subject to flood, as that term is generallY und"rstood, The rainfall is too scanty to affect the river <br />materially, and the high water that occurs annually clue to melting mountain snow in May and June is <br />characterized by a gradual rise and fall, depending on the amount of snow and the temperature, The <br />tributary drainage basins above Roaring pork, IikEiwise, are not subject to severe or flash floods, <br /> <br />'This Chapter taken from USGS "Floods in Colorado", 1948 <br /> <br />Colorado Flood <br />Hydrology Manual <br /> <br />2,.~1 <br /> <br />DRAFT <br />