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<br />1984 Flood <br /> <br />The 1984 flood was the flood of record at several Colorado River gages. A heavy <br />snowpack followed by an abrupt and sustained hot spell during the last week of May <br />led to significant flood damage throughout western Colorado. Erosion damage was <br />severe at many locations due to the prolonged high water and the already-mentioned <br />susceptibility to erosion following the 1983 flood. All of the ponds other than Rifle <br />Rest Area Pond experienced flood damage in 1984. Even at the Rifle pond there was <br />flooding nearby. <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />The 1983 flood opened many secondary flow paths on the Colorado River. Those <br />secondary flow paths were, therefore, readily available to the 1984 floodwaters. Had <br />the 1983 flood not occurred and made those flow paths so accessible, the flood stages <br />on the Colorado River in 1984 would have been higher. <br /> <br />1993 Flood <br /> <br />The 1993 flood was initially expected to be more severe than the 1984 flood. In <br />many locations the 1993 snowpack was higher than the 1984 snowpack. Fortunately <br />when spring and early summer came, there was no sustained hot spell. so the runoff <br />was more gradual than had been feared. The result was high water and some erosion <br />but very little of the damage seen in 1983 and 1984. Although there was high water <br />in the river next to several of the ponds, there was no record of inundation at any of <br />the ponds. Erosion continued to be a problem at certain sites, especially Connected <br />Lakes/Duke Lake. <br /> <br />8 <br />