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<br />as ISO,GOG c.f.s. A slope-area measurement on Rule Creek just bolo~ <br />),fuddyCreek:lndicatedapcak discharge of 276,000 c.f.s. ThIs large <br />dIscharge WaS prohably due in part to the failure of Muddy Creok <br />(Setchfie1d) Reservoir, a privately o~cd reservoir located on Muddy <br />Creek,atributarytoRule,.Creek_ <br /> <br />the dam and water WaS backed into tho sandhills to such an oxtent <br />that another breach occurred in.the.sandy terrain about 1,000 feet <br />wide and 30 to 40 foet deep. .Severe damages to U.S. Highway SO, <br />AT&SFRailway, andfal'llllands were sustained. Tonsofsandnnddehris <br />were carried into the Arkansas valley,. covering many, acres of farmland <br />up to six feet in depth. . <br />27. As the flood progressed downstream through Prowers County, <br />the flows increased with the interception. of. each additional tributary <br />and inundated most of. the Arkansas valley, bottom. land. Near the town <br />of Granada, Colorado, Wolf Creek contributed an estimated peak of <br />35,000 c.f.s. Tho levees on Wolf Creek, were breached, and the town of <br />Granada was flooded to depths of about six feet. <br /> <br />22. The floo,lon Rule Creek caused.considerable hi.o:hway damage <br />in a"nt County and destroyed about five Illiles af the.AT & 51' Railway <br />branchline, which runs southeast framLas Animas to Springfield, <br />Colorado. The land in this watershed is used for grazing. ~inor agri~ <br />cultural damages resulted from sediment deposition, erosion, and fence <br />loss. <br /> <br />23. John Martin Reservoir waS empty the morning of 14 June and <br />contained over 300,000 acre-feet by the morning of 24 June. There were <br />164,000 acre-feet stored on 18 June, which indicates an average inflow <br />of about 82.000 c.f.s. for the 24~hour p..riod, Both the conduit and <br />spillway .o:ates at John Martin Oam were closed at the beginning of the <br />flood and no releases were made from the, reservoir until 6 July. The <br />effects of the reservoir are discussed in paragraphs 58-63. <br /> <br />28. Two Butte Cr..ek produced th.. initial floodwave that flowed <br />into Kansas. This stream enters the Arkansas valley on the right bank <br />just upstream from Holly, Colorado. The headwaters and tributaries of <br />Two Butte Creek were near the center of the uost severe cell of the <br />storm as sho\ffl on plate 4. The county road system and dryland farming <br />area in the Two Butte watershed suffered extensive flood damage. Two <br />Buttes Dam, owned by Two Buttes Irrigation Company, was overtopped <br />and sustained serious damage. The peak discharge of Two Butte Creek <br />about two miles west of U.S. Highway 287 WaS estimated at 22,000 c.f.s. <br />Two Butte Creek entered the Arkansas River valley as a raging torrent <br />with a peak discharge of 182,000 c.f.s. at abou~ 2 a.m, on 17 June. <br />Flow from this tributary crossed the Arkansas R~ver and spread over <br />tile valley. It flowed along the levee designed to conveyl\'ildHorse <br />Creek (a left bank tributary) aroundlJolly,Colorado. Thequantityof <br />flow destroyed the levees from U.S. Hiihway 50 to the Arkansas River <br />andallowedthewatertoenterthetownofflolly. The business area <br />of Holly was inundated by floodwaters from Two Butte Creek and the <br />Arkansas River to depths of eight feet. At the height of the Arkansas <br />River flood, about B a.m. on 17 June, the entire town was inundated. <br />The flood required complete evacuation of the towndth a population <br />of 1,100. The co~unity was cut off from all forms of transportation <br />or communication for a period of about three days. <br />29. These phenomenal floodS in Coiorado produced a maximum dis- <br />charge estimated at about 200,000 c.f.s. in the ~rkansas Rive: at the <br />Colorado-Kansas State line. As the flood moved ~nto Kansas, ~t covered <br />the entire Arkansas Valley floodplain and was more than two miles wide <br />in some reaches. The town of Syracuse, Kansas, had insufficient warning <br />of the flood and was severely damaged. The estimated peak discharge at <br />Syracuse was about 200,000 c.f.s. The hydrograph of the Arkansas River <br />at Syracuse is shown on plate IS. <br />30. The uncontrolled flow spread aCrOSS the Arkansas River valley <br />ln western Kansas ~nundating c~ties and towns, farms, lowlands, high~ <br />ways, and railroads. The flood peak decreased as the flow moved east- <br />ward. T,,~ flow.which peaked a~ about lOO,OOI) c. f.s. at Syracuse .was <br /> <br />24, FLOOD CONDITIONS IN THE ARKANSAS RIlISR SUBBASIN BELOW JOHN <br />MARTIN DAM. - Despite complete control of the Arkansas Rivor at John <br />Martin Oam, tremendous inflow from tributaries in Bent and Prower! <br />Counties bet~een the dam and the COlorado-Kansas State line produced <br />llnprecedentedf1owsintheriverfromllolly, Colorado, to Great Bend, <br />Kansas, even exceeding the uncontrolled 1921 flood. Caddoa and Mud <br />Creeks,justbelowJohn.I1artin Reservoir, produced peaks OIl 17 June <br />estimated at 35,000 c.f.s. and 98,000 c.f.s., respectively, which are <br />greaterthananypreViollslyobserved. IlryCreek,jllstabovC!Lamar, <br />Colorado, had a peal of 28,~JO c.f.s. The Arkansas River at Lamar <br />peaked at 7a.m. on 17.JUM with a measured clischarge of 12,800 c.f.s. <br />This flooded most of the city north of the railroad tracks. An esti_ <br />matedhydrograph of the Arkansas River at Lamar is shown on plate 14 . <br /> <br />25. During the early mornin.o: of 17 June, Willow Creek, a normally <br />small stream which winds its way through the Lamar City Park, discharged <br />an estimated peak of 24.!I';)O c.f.s. The Willow Creek flood broke out of <br />the channel and flowed northwest through Lamar, flooding most of the <br />city south of the railroad tracks. <br /> <br />26. Just below Lamar, the Colorado Game, Fish, and Parks Depart. <br />ment was co~leting a dam on Clay Creek. Rains on the upper watershed <br />on the night of 16 June filled the newly con.t~lcted reservoir to its <br />capacity of about 3,000 acre-feet, and it spilled. Observers stated that <br />during the night of the 16th wacer overflowed the confines of the re ser- <br />voir area and backed into a sand dune area to the northwest of the da~. <br />The following ni.o:ht (17 June) floodwaters produced n peak discharge above <br />the reservoir of ISR,OOO c,f.s. The volume of this nmoff exceeded the <br />design capacity of th" project and the dam ~'''S overtopped by about three <br />feet. This res1l1t..d in abreach3."out 300 feot wido at tho leften<lof <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />" <br />