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<br />. <br /> <br />hydrologic regions because of widely ranging, complex basin physiography and climate. The <br />five hydrologic regions include the mountain region, Rio Grande region, southwest region, <br />northwest region, and the plains region, <br /> <br />The study area for this report (and most of Clear Creek County) is within the mountain region as <br />defined by the USGS, The explanatory variables for the mountain region flood-frequency <br />equations include drainage area and mean basin slope, For the purpose of this study, the <br />drainage areas and basin slopes for the watersheds of interest were measured from the USGS <br />I :50,000 scale County Series mapping for Clear Creek County. The regression equations and <br />variables used for this study are presented in Appendix A. <br /> <br />At the time of this hydrology study, the USGS report is considered to be in draft format. <br />Potential revisions to the regression equations for the plains region were preventing the final <br />publication from being released. Revisions to the mountain region equations were not <br />anticipated by USGS staff at the time of this report, and therefore the equations were deemed to <br />be valid by CWCS staff. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />There are five existing small reservoirs located in the upper Clear Creek watershed, Four of the <br />reservoirs are located on South Clear Creek, and one is located on the Clear Creek mainstem just <br />below Georgetown, None of the five reservoirs are operated or maintained for the purpose of <br />flood control in the watershed. Therefore, it is assumed that peak flood flows are essentially <br />unaffected by the reservoirs, Storage and routing for flood control purposes was completely <br />ignored for all five of the reservoirs. The peak flows presented in this study represent relatively <br />natural, unregulated basin conditions in the upper Clear Creek watershed. <br /> <br />Methodolol!V for Previous Corps of Enl!ineers Analvsis <br />The Corps of Engineers completed a hydrologic study for Clear Creek County in 1990 under <br />contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After careful review by CWCS <br />staff, and in light of new information and regression equations that were not available at the time <br />of the Corps study, some of the peak flow results developed by the Corps have been superseded <br />by this study, However, the original Corps analysis and results for the Clear Creek mainstem <br />downstream from its confluence with West Fork Clear Creek are considered to be valid and were <br />accepted for this study, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />For the 1990 Corps study, discharge-frequency relationships were based on a combined- <br />population snowmelt/rainfall discharge frequency analysis, Rainfall discharge frequency <br />relationships were estimated using the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Storm Water <br />Management Model (SWMM) as modified by the Missouri River Division of the U.S, Army <br />Corps of Engineers. Snowmelt discharge frequency relationships were determined from an intra- <br />basin regional analysis. The regional analysis was developed for Clear Creek by relating the <br />drainage area to the mean flood logarithm and the standard deviation of the logarithms of the <br />annual snowmelt peak discharges at two gaging station locations located on Clear Creek <br />(Lawson and Golden), The rainfall and snowmelt discharge-frequency curves were then plotted <br />for each location, and the combined-population curve at each location was calculated, More <br />detailed information on the Corps analysis can be found in the final report (reference 2). <br /> <br />5 <br />