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<br />j' <br /> <br />wa ters followed by very dry peri ods during which the winds, which have a pre- <br />dominantly easterly direction, deposit silt and sand on the western banks, thus <br />gradually pushing the waters into a channel farther to the east. <br /> <br />! <br />I, <br />, <br />" <br /> <br />In 1909 a large diversion dan and off-channel reservoir, known as the <br />'~~st Nile, was constructed in Adams County approximately five miles below the <br />c0nfluence of the East and West Bijou Creeks. Considerable private capital was <br />invested in this irrigation project, which might have been successful except for <br />the fact that a large amount of silt accumulated above the dam and around the <br />Gates, and after only a few years of not too successful operation the diversion <br />dam was completely washed out during a flood and the project was abandoned. <br /> <br />There has been some individual effort on the part of ranchers and land- <br />o~ners in this lONer basin to control the bank cutting, but in general the prob- <br />lRm is too great to be met by measures such individuals are able to install with- <br />out the aid of heavy equipment and technical advice. Further, it is recognized <br />that the source of the destruction is in the upper part of the basins and must be <br />r~ntrolled in those areas before successDll conservation measures can be accom- <br />p1ished downstream. <br /> <br />In the upper basins of the Kiova and Bijou Creeks the problem is somewhat <br />,:ifferent. AlthouCh floodcraters here "lso menace life and property as in the <br />]mrer basins, the almost constant process by which rainfall and snow runoff is <br />removing the fertile topsoil ~nd depositing it farther d~mstream constitutes <br />the major problem of the upper basins. Luch irreparable damaGe has also been <br />done in this area by the sa:~ding of meadow lands during floods. <br /> <br />-2- <br /> <br /> <br />\ <br />! <br /> <br />FollowinG a major flood in 1945 the Corps of Zngineers constructed dikes <br />along the mair. channel in the Vicinity of the towns of Kiowa and ;Ubert on Kiowa <br />Creek to protect the properties and citizens of those towns. These dikes are <br />apparently soundly engineered and constructed, but it is not inconceivable that <br />a flood of similar proportions to that experienced in 1935 would not only skirt <br />the upstream boundaries of the dikes but also overtop them and again inundate <br />the towns. <br /> <br />Many soil stabilization and runoff control practices have been carried out <br />in the headwaters regions of the two creeks and their tributary drainages. The <br />Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture reports that since <br />1941, 241 stockwater and flood control dams have been construct3d, 14 miles of <br />terracing and 24 miles of diversions by ditches and dikes have ,been built, 966 <br />acres of land contoured with heavy furrows, and 4676 acres of land seeded to <br />grasses. In addition, the Civilian Conservation Corps completed some similar <br />work, although there is no available record of its extent. <br /> <br />All of this conservation work was accomplished in small drainage areas <br />tributary to the nBin streams, and the dams and dikes average about seven to ten <br />feet in height and 150 to 200 feet in lenGth. The capacity of the reservoirs <br />ranges between one a:1d ten acre feet. Those classified as flood control dams <br />