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4 FLQOD& IN OOLORADO FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, Upper Colorado River and Its Utilization: U. S. Geoloslcal Survey Water,Supply Paper 617, 394 pp. 1929. Coutains a section on floods pp. 151-154. ' FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, and SPIEGEL, J. B., Flood on Republican and Kansas Rivera, May and June 1935: U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 795-B, pp. 51-52, 1937. STATE ENGINIIER OJ!' COLORADO Published reports 6th Biennial Report [for the yeara 1891 and 1892J, 1893. Includes a brief report, by L. R. Hope, of the flood on Ca.che La. Poudre River June 9 1891 due to the failure of the Chambers Lake Dam (p. 19), and the figures ~f peak discharge during that flood (p. 22). 8th Biennial ~port [f~r the yeara 1895 and 1896J. 1897. Contains a description of the gagIng statIOn on Bear Creek at Morrison, and an estimate of the dUJ... charge at that station during the flood of July 24, 1896 (p, 454). 15th Biennial Report [for the yeara 1909 and 191OJ. 1911. Ineludes reports on the failure of the Middle 8.!1d Trout Lakes reservoIr dams, in the early part of September 1909, due to a flood on Lake Fork of San Miguel River (pp. 113-116). 28th Biennial Report [for the yeara 1935 and 1936l. .1939. Includes a paper by L. T.. Burgess, e?tit1ed. "Disastrous floods in 1933-1934-1935" (pp. 38-43), in WhICh he desenbes bl'lefly floods on the following streams: Purgatoire River, Sept. 15, 1934; ~orse Creek, Aug. 28, 1935j Granada Creek, July 11-12, 1935j Monument Creek at Colorado Springs, May 30, 1935; Cherry Creek, Aug. 2-3, 1933; Arikaree River, May 30, 1935; South Fork of Republican River May 30, 1935j Bijou Creek, May 30, 1935; and Kiowa Creek, May 30, 1935: Unpubli.luJd report., on file in the Office oj the State Engineer HINDERLIDER, M. C., Report of the Horse Creek flood, Aug. 28, 1935, and the failure of the Horse Creek Dam, 1935. BURGESS, L. T., Report on Purgatoire River flood at Ninemile Dam Sept. 15 1934. ' , BURGESS, L. T., Report of floods in Granada and Wolf Creeks, July 11 and 12 1935. ' BURGESS, L. T., RePort of flood, Sept. 9-10, 1933, in the South Platte River at Denver. CITY OF DENVER Report of the Cberry Creek Flood Commission, May 1913, Denver. OCCURRENCE OF FLOODS Colorado was settled in the late 1850's, but before that time trad- ers, hunters, aud emigrants on the long trek to the Far West recorded floods, the earliest being those on the Arkansas and Republican Rivers in 1826.. The next, which is believed to have been widespread, occurred 1ll 1844 on the Arkansas River, and by inference on the South Platte River,~ Severe floods occurred on the Colorado River in 1853 and on urgatoire River and San Juan River about 1859. . Since the set ement of Colorado the most disastrol18 flood occurred I . OCCURRENCE OF FLOODS 5 on the Arkansas River in June 1921. This flood caused the loss of about 100 lives in Pueblo, and an estimated property loss of $19,000,- 000 in the Arkansas Valley, of which the greater part was also sus- tained by Pueblo. This may not have been the greatest flood from the standpoint of volume, however, as some of the early floods appar- ently reached higher stages. Single floods inundating large areas and causing heavy loss of life are rare in Colorado, but many floods of considerable magnitude have occurred, some of which caused loss of life and great property damage. Many of the areas flooded are shown in figure 1. TOPOGRAPmC ZONES Colorado may be roughly divided from east to west into three zones: The eastern three-sevenths of the State, which occupies the western edge of the high plains and has a rolling topography; the central two-sevenths, made up of parallel ranges of the Rocky :Moun- tains that attain their highest elevation in Colorado, and between which are high, relatively level areas known as mountain parks; and the western two-sevenths, made up in the northern part, of rolling hills, and in the central and southern parts, of the deeply eroded high plateaus that characterize much of the Colorado River Basin. This .topography, because of its wide range, exerts a marked influence on the occurrence of floods. INFLUENCE OF TOPOGRAPHY ON PRECIPITATION During the spring and summer storms the chief source of moisture is the Gulf of Mexico.1 The warm, moisture-laden air from the Gulf, being deflected upward by the Front Range, is cooled and precipitates its moisture not ouly on the Front Range but also on the adjacent plains area. Although the storms may continue westward, the remaining moisture is insufficient to produce heavy precipitation west of the Front Range, and does not cause floods on the streams in the mountain area. Very rarely, as in September 1909 and October 1911, late summer and early fall storms bring in moisture-laden air from the Pacific Ocean, which being deflected upward by the moun- tain mass bordering the high plateau in the western part of the State, causes heavy rainfall in the southwestern part of the State and lesser amounts farther east. During the winter the moisture comes chiefly from the Pacific Ocean; it is deflected upward by the western mountain chains and is precipitated in the form of snow, usually heaviest on the western. slopes of the highest ranges and decreasing eastward. Along the I Holzml\D, Benjamin, Sources of moisture for precipitation in the United Btates: U. .1. Agr. Tech. Bull. 589, p. 24, 1937.