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<br />, <br /> <br />the duration of flooding, but progressively reduces flood peaks down- <br /> <br /> <br />stream. A low volume, high peak, cloudburst type of storm in the <br /> <br /> <br />upper watershed can cause severe localized flooding, but have little <br /> <br /> <br />effect downstream. Studies of flood history show that peak attenuation <br /> <br /> <br />on the Arkansas River continues without interruption between the <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado-Kansas State line and Great Bend where the absence of signi- <br /> <br /> <br />ficant tributaries results in minimum inflow as shown on Plate A-2. <br /> <br /> <br />9. From Kinsley to the mouth of Walnut Creek near Great Bend, <br /> <br /> <br />a distance of about 50 river miles, three major drainages--pawnee <br /> <br /> <br />River, Big Coon Creek, Walnut Creek--along with various minor drain- <br /> <br /> <br />ages, add about 4,520 square miles of contributing drainage area. The <br /> <br /> <br />communities of Kinsley, Larned, and Great Bend are vulnerable to the <br /> <br /> <br />flows of these tributaries as well as the attenuated floodflows from <br /> <br /> <br />upper watershed areas. <br /> <br />"" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />10. HISTORICAL FLOODS.- Various historical sources disclose <br /> <br /> <br />that at least 12 floods occurred on the Arkansas River between 1826 <br /> <br /> <br />and 1900 which were of sufficient size to be remembered by pioneer <br /> <br /> <br />settlers or reported in early-day newspapers. Descriptive accounts <br /> <br /> <br />give details that were meaningful to area residents of the time, but <br /> <br /> <br />they rarely provide definitive data to enable valid magnitude deter- <br /> <br /> <br />minations. These early floods are generally identified in connection <br /> <br /> <br />with the present-day locations of Las Animas, Lamar, Fort Lyon, La <br /> <br /> <br />Junta, Trinidad, and Pueblo, in Colorado. The last and most signif- <br /> <br /> <br />icant flood of the pre-1900 era occurred in May 1894 when, at Pueblo, <br /> <br /> <br />five lives were lost and $2 million in property damage was sustained <br /> <br /> <br />from the combined flooding of Fountain Creek, Dry Creek, and the <br /> <br /> <br />Arkansas River. This flood was headlined in the Colorado Chieftain: <br /> <br /> <br />"Highest Water on Record Visits Pueblo." Following are descriptions <br /> <br /> <br />of especially large or damaging floods that have occurred on the <br /> <br /> <br />Arkansas River since 1900. <br /> <br /> <br />a. Flood of June 1921. This flood was reportedly the <br /> <br /> <br />largest yet to be experienced along the Arkansas River. During the <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />A-S <br /> <br />''':''~- <br />