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T 72 FLOODS I1i COLORADO REPUBLICAN RIVER The headwaters of the Republican River drain an area in east- central Colorado, roughly oval in shape, extending from a point south of Fort Morgan eastward to the Colorado-Nebraska State line. This area is a part of the Great Plains province and has its character- istic topography. The streams have an average fall of about 12 feet per mile, The greatest flood of record in this area occurred May 30-31, 1935. 'fhe severe storm on May 30 took the form of a scries of cloudbursts, which in the Rcpublican Rivcr Basin in Colorado ccntercd on the area betwcen the Republican and Arikaree Rivers and extended from a line drawn from Cope to .seibert eastward to the State linc. An in- vestigation was made soon after the flood, and from the published report 38 the following is nbstraetcd: No Weather Bureau stations were within the area. of heavy precipitation, hence it was necessary to obtain information concernin~ it from local residents, many of whom measured the ra.infaU in improvised rain gages. These state- ments showed rainfall ranging from 6 to 18 inches during the night of May 30- 31, and one resident reported that a 24-inoh stock tank overflowed during the night. The main flood on the Arikl,ree River originated some distancc wcst of Cope, where a heavy rain startcd at 6 p. m., May 30. The river began to rise shortly afterward, nnd by 3 a. m., May 31, it reached its peak stage of about 6 feet, with a corresponding discharge of 25,000 second-feet. As the flood progrcssed it reached a peak discharge of 54,000 second-feet and peak stage of 9 feet at a point 10 miles north of Idalia. On the South Fork Republiean River thc flood startcd near Scibert, where four small erccks unitc to form thc South I<ork, and increased rapidly to a peak disch8J'ge of 103,000 second-feet ncar Newton and 150,000 sccond-fcct at the State line. The greatcst dischm'ge per square mile occurred nem' Newton. Thc drainage area west of the area of heaviest precipitation contributed about 20,000 second-feet to the peak, leaving 83,000 second-feet contributed by the 669 square miles direetly affected by the cloudbursts, or 124 second-fect pcr squarc milc. . ARKANSAS RIVER The Arlmnsas Rivcr is formed by thc East Fork and Tcnnessee :Fork, which unite near Malta. From thcir junction to Parkdalc, the Arkansas River flows through a succcssion of narrow vallcys divided by short canyons. At Pm'kdalc the river plunges into the Royal Gorge, cmerging from it just above Canon City, and below that point I' Follansbee, Robert, and Spiegel, 1. B., Flood on Republican and Kansas Rivers, May and June 1936: T"I " fl"nl lO!......".. W..t......Rllnnlv Paller 700-D. Ill). 21-(;2, 1937. MAJOR FLOODS-ARKA1iSAS RIVEn 73 /lows through a valley increasing in width as f8J' as Pucblo, Beyond Pueblo, the river flows across the plains to the State line and thcnce into Kansas. Betwcen Canon City and Pueblo the fall of the river dccreases from 25 feet to 10 feet per mile, and below Pueblo the averago fall is about 8 feet pex mile, Above the Royal Gorge the Arkansas River is not subject to hcavy floods. A few of its upper tributaries are subject to cloudburst floods, but the volume of these floods is too small to affect seriously the Arkansas River itself. Gag1'ng stations on AtkansQs River between Canon City and Colorado-Kanaas State line Stationl Drainage area (square mllos) Period of record Canoll CitY__.____.......n___ NcnrPuoblo_____________._..__ Near Nepcsts_______....__..n Near Rocky Ford____..._n___ LaJlInta......___.______....__ 3.000 -1,730 0,130 11,400 1~200 May 1888 to date. May 1885 to September 1886; June to September 1887; May to August 1930; September 1894 to datc. September 1807 to Octobcr 1903; July 1009 to November 1912; January 1914 to date. May IBM to AprIlIDOO; April 1901 to October HlO3, May to August 1889; DCI.~mber 1893 to December 1895 January to December 1901; April to October 1003; August to November 1008; April 1912 to date. May 1!1l3todatc. . December 1893 to Dcoombcr 1894; May 1901 to April 1002; October 1001 to date. Lamar..__.____.____....._.__.. Holly___.__.._.__..__......_.__ 10,800 25,000 1 Stations maintained at several other points lor short periods. The earliest flood known in this area oecured in 1826, long before permanent settlement in thc Arkansas Valley. Knowledge of this flood is available only at fourth hand but is believed to be reliable. C. W. Beach, State division irrigation engineer, obtained the infor- mation from J. R. Gordon, of Pueblo. Mr. Gordon in turn had ob- tained it from a Mr. Traber who, as an elderly man, visitcd Pueblo in 1873. In his younger days Mr, Traber was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1826, with associates, spent con- siderable time in the vicinity of the old sit" of Fort Lyon, During that ycar a flood OCCUlTed on the Arkansas River that covered the bottom lands near the prcsent town of Las Animas to a depth of about 15 feet. In 1873 Mr. Gordon visited Las Animas in company with MI'. Taber, who identified the site of his original camp. The fact that a great flood occurred on thc Arkansas in 1826 was also verified, according to Mr. Beach, by grandchildrcn of Mrs. Amy Prowers, wifc of John W. Prowers for whom Prowers County is nl1llled. An outstanding /lood apparently OCCUlTed also on the Republican and Kansas Rivers in 1826," when excessive rains throughout the middle Mississippi and Missouri River Basins, caused high stages on thpJ;:A- rivers during April and May." .t Follansbee, Robert, and Spiegel,1. B., op. elt., p. tll. t' Kansas River, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas: 7M Cong., 2d sess.,ll. Doc. 195, p. 39,1034.