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<br />AN EVALUATION 0]' THE DOLORES RIVER <br />AT <br />DOLORES, COI.OIlADO <br /> <br />AUTHORI'rY <br /> <br />This evaluation was conducted under authority of section 22 <br />of Public Law 93-251, Planning Assistance to States. The study <br />was ini':iated at the request of the Colorado Water Conservation <br />Board (I~WCB), State of Colorado, and t:he 'rown of Dolores, <br />Colorado), <br /> <br />STUDY ~~EA DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />Th,~ Town of Dolores lies in the Dolores River Basin of <br />southwe:~tern Colorado (Attachment 1), The Dolores River flows <br />generalLy west through town. At thEl .,est end (downstream) of <br />town th,~ river enters McPhee Reservoir. McPhee Reservoir was <br />construl~ted by the U.S. Bureau of RElclamation (USBR) in the <br />1980's. Downstream of the dam, th,~ river flows northwest to its <br />conflue:lce with the Colorado River about 100 miles downstream. <br /> <br />Th,~ Dolores River originates high in the San Juan Mountain <br />Range of southwestern Colorado at an elevation of over <br />14,000 feet. The basin drains an area of about 570 square miles <br />upstream of Dolores. The higher drainage area is timbered with <br />pine, fir and spruce, while brush dominates the lower elevations <br />including Dolores. The town was set:tled in 1878. Today, <br />ranchinq, farming, logging, mining, and tourism are the Dlajor <br />economi,~ activities. <br /> <br />Mu,~h of the annual precipitation is snow, and a deep <br />snowpac]c usually accumulates in the high elevations. Snowmelt <br />runoff in the spring and early summer constitutes a frequent but <br />compara':ively moderate flood threat. Frequent cloudburst storms <br />during ':he summer produce high intensity rainfall, but due to <br />their slnall areal extent, short duration, and small runoff volume <br />pose only a localized threat. General rainstorms occur between <br />June and December, but are most frequent during September and <br />October. These general rainstorms pose the most serious flood <br />threat ':0 Dolores. <br /> <br />Th,~ flood of record in October 1911 was the result of a <br />general rainstorm. The largest recent flood was in September <br />1970. Other floods occurred in 1909, 1932, 1937, 1941, 1944, <br />1949, and 1957. Flood losses have consisted mainly of damages to <br />bridges and irrigation structures. Flood fighting during the <br />events has prevented substantial damage to residential and <br />commercial developments. <br />