FLOOD01064

• County: El Paso
• Community: Colorado Springs, Fountain
• Stream Name: Fountain and Jimmy Camp Creeks
• Title: Floodplain Information
• Date: 3/1/1973
• Prepared For: Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments
• Prepared By: US Army Corps of Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

PAS1FLOOO5

flood ~~tBr~ rr~ tribut~rlBo n~ dlfFQrent loo~tion of "tor~

c~~t~:~. Floods ob'Br'.'o~ ~t Fo~n~~in Qf~s~ co~~~oct i~ ",Jyni~,"~u
frOl1lhosBatColoI'adoSprir>gs.

Sou~coc of D~~~ and Ror.Q~rlG

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Stream stage and disch3I'<;e records indioating flood
potential a~e fragmentery end generally limited to random meaSure"
msnto taken at th8 time of l~rge flood occ~rrenoss. From M~rch 19{.C
through August 1952, e recording gage ~as m~inteinsd on Fount~in
Cr<lsk b"lo~ the mOl.lth of Li tUe Fountain Cresk. A ~tream gagin<;
st~tion sstablished in October 1964 now operates ~t the Carson
Boulevard bridge, and another, oporational sinos 1966, is loc~ted
upst.eem near the ~eetern limits of Colorado Springs. flow reco.ds
f.om these station~ ~re in~dequate to define hydrologic conditions
for the stl.ldy reaches considered in this report.
Historical documents, newspape. fileo, publicstione of
the U.S. Geoiogical Survey, and Colorado Water A~co.ds were 60urces
ofJ.nformation rega.ding past floods. The floodprofilec and flooded
~.~d~ ffiap~ wa.s devclopod from this ~ate.ia1, along ~ith the re2ult"
of previou~ studias, field irlVasUgations, c)nd office cornputations.

Su~~~rv of Historic~l Floodc

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.lood Se~~on ~nd .lood Charsctaristics
Most of the floodproduclngstO''-'50VQr thafOl.lntain
Creek wate.shad occur during the summer months from May th.ough
August. Ou.ing this period, massos of ~arm, moist air fro~ the
Gulf of Mexico and cold, compaI'atively dry ai. from tho polsr ragions
com~ina ovor the highe. l~nd a.eas to Cause inc.eaeed thunde.sto.m
activit~. The severest ~torms oft~n g~na.ata in the tran8ition~1
perlod~ of lata spring and aady fall when pol~. ~ir intrusions ar~
most intensive. lsoh,,:ed summe. thunde"storrn~ ~Ca fr"qu~ntly ~eve.s
but limitad in arool oxtont. Av~ilabla reco.ds indic..h th~t gnow-
:nslt hsc seldom contdboted signific~ntly to flood occuc.ences on
fo'~nt'!in C.~ek. rlnnrl~ in t.h~ ,"M~r~hArl ~rA r.h~c~r,t.Ari7~d b~ high
paak flows, n1ode.ate volume., ~nd short d~ration~. The :n~gdtudQ of
floode c~n ~"""ga ~adi~ally dovmst.eam f.om ColoradO 51'.ing. dll~ to

As dis~losed in ~~rly-doy newspoper filaa, the flood
of June to, 1864-_only five yaaI's after the founding of :olorodo
City (no~ the west pert of Colo. ado Sprin9s)-~ar~ad ths beginning
of Color..do Spri"gs' flood histo.y. News e~counts of sre.. flooding
in subsequent yesrs s.e p.ofuse in describing effects that we."
meaningful to locel .esidents et the time of publication, but they
r..rsly disc~ss damages or e pa.ticuler stream in sufficiant deteil
to snable valid magnitude determinations. Acco.dingly, Table 2
lists the highest ten fountain Creek floods kno~n to have caussd
danage, end relative size compe.isons aI'S not ~ttempted~ On ths
basis of available peek diecnarge date alone, the flOOds of 1664,
logE, "nd 1935 would be ~le~s"a ," "'''jor. in daotr~ctivs cClpebili ty.
Th" '~ay 1935 floDd wa~ the highest of I'eco.d at Colo.ado Sp.ings,
~lso attaining the u"~'wiablB dhtinction 01' being the most devas_
tating flOOd in the city'. history. It ,,~iots as the flood of
.ecordfo.fO<.JntainC."ekdownst'''a'''possiblytoJimmyC""'pCr",,k
at Fountain, Colorado. Below Jimmy Camp Creek confl~ance.the June
1965 flood probably exceeded ~ll known floods to th~ El Pa~o county
line.

The Jim~y C,,~p C.ank flOOd, at a point 4t miles aClOVD
its confluence with Fountain CI'eek. wa. estimated to be 124,000
~ubic feet pe. second (c.f,s.) o. 2,284 c.f,s, per squ~re mile of
~"tsrshsd. This is ths la~9sst know" fl ood in ths Stdts of ColorHdo
for cc~psr~b1~ drsinage ~raae.

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