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<br />badly damaged. Several mile~ of fill and ballast were was~ed out and
<br />numerou~ culverts and bridge~ were destroyed. Most of the fill and
<br />ballast washouts were on nearly, flat grades wbere the groulld slope h
<br />normal to the track. The Tainfall was so intense (up. to 12 inches tn
<br />t~ree hours) that the entire countryllide became a moving lake. T~ere
<br />were ~pots in this area where highway cUts through sroall hill~ were
<br />eroded as much as 20 feet hy runoff froll"uly,a fe..hundredsquare
<br />feet.
<br />
<br />North La Junta. The community was inundated to depths of five to six
<br />feet. The flood reached the. railroad track~ at La.Junta on the south
<br />bank where only slight,dlllllage was incurred..
<br />
<br />IS. The city of LaS.Animas, in ,Bent County received very little
<br />damage due to a successful flood. fight.
<br />
<br />10. Black Squirrel Creek,,(a tributary of Chico Creek) whic1\ is
<br />normally a dry ~tream, produced a peak,discharge_of..l4l,000 c.f.s. at
<br />COlorado State Highway 94. The water wa~ 4.2 miles wide at this location.
<br />The hillside, dry land farms were badly eroded and the bottom land,
<br />used mostly for grazing, waS covered..witb depositsO'of sand up to six
<br />fcetindepth.
<br />
<br />16. Rainfall in Las Animas County from the storm center near
<br />Raton. New Mexico, on 16 June 1965 produced large flows in Long Canyon
<br />and Raton Creek. These.Purgatoire.River tributaries. had peak discharges
<br />of 4,480 c.f.s. and 12.900.c.f.s,,_respectively. The flow in the
<br />Purgatoire River above Trinidad..resulted__in.a,peak discharge of IS,OOO
<br />c.f.s. at the Trinidad damsite and a peak of about 3,000 c.f.s. twenty
<br />miles farther upstream which caused railroad and highway damage. Agri-
<br />cultural damages were.minor~in.tbisuarea .because"the crops consisted
<br />mostly of alfalfa.
<br />
<br />11. Fountain Creek produced II. peaLof_47,000 c.f.s. and caused
<br />major urban flooding at Pueblo, the county seat of. Pueblo County.
<br />Manaade obstructions limited the channel to a width .of 250 feet or
<br />less at several locations. Constrictions appear to have caused back.
<br />water which resulted in the diversion of floodwaters out of the normal
<br />Fountain Creek floodplain and across a highly developed residential
<br />and business area of PueblO to the Arkansas River.
<br />
<br />17. The Purgatoire River subbasin above Raton Creek produced a
<br />peak flow of 15,000 c.f.s, A peak flow of 15,700 c.f.s. was recorded
<br />at the Trinidad gage. The peak flows from the Purgatoire River and
<br />from Raton Creek did not coincide. The Purgatoire River peaked at
<br />Trinidad about three hours after the peak caused,by flows from Raton
<br />Creek.
<br />
<br />12. The town of Cripple Creek, the county seat of Teller County,
<br />situated on the southwestern side of Plkes Peak, lost its water supply
<br />when three small dams on the headwaters of Beaver Creek washed out.
<br />The discharge from these reservoirs was caught by Skagway Reservoir,
<br />a power structUr<! which sustained considerable damage but did not fail.
<br />Regulation of flows by Skagway Reservoir and the effects ofattenuat ion
<br />through tho lower reaches of Beaver Creek reduced flow~ to. non damaging
<br />proportions before they enterod the Arkansas River above Pueblo, Colorado.
<br />
<br />18. Trinidad received only minor damage. Flows were contained
<br />within the channel through most of the town. TIle channel overflowed
<br />near the AT & Sf Depot causing minor damage, but flows returned to
<br />the channel within a two-block reach. The channel capacity through
<br />Trinidad is 15,000 c.f.s.
<br />
<br />13. From PueblO to Las Animas, Chico Creek waS the only tributary
<br />which added to the peak in the Arkansas River. Chico Creek had an esti.
<br />mated peak discharge of 50,900 c.f.s. at its mouth. TIlis contribution
<br />increased the peak of the Arkansas River to 102,000 c.f.s. At Nepesta
<br />near the eastern edge of Pueblo County, the measured discharge was
<br />44,400c.f.s. From Chico Creek to Las Animas, flows decreased as the
<br />floodmoveddownstroam. The measured peak at Catlin Oam in Crowley
<br />County was 43,200 c.f.s. A discharge of 33,Oqp'c.f.s. was recorded at
<br />La Junta, the county seat of Otero County, at'6 a.m. on the 19th of
<br />June, and a flow of 22,100 c.f.s. was recorded at Las Animas at 5 p.m.
<br />on 19 June. The flood in the reach of Arkansas River between Pueblo
<br />and La ,Ju1Ita damaged agricultural lands. IJrban damage in this reach
<br />was minor and consisted of damage to sewage disposal facilities at
<br />Rocky Ford and ~anzanola, both in Otero County.
<br />
<br />19. BelowTrinidad,thefloodincreasedwithadditionofflows
<br />from Frijole and San Francisco Creeks I which had estiftated peaks of
<br />10,500 c.f.s. and 11,SOO c.f.s., respectively. Agricultural damage
<br />from flooding in this reach was not severe, but the loss of diversion
<br />structures in the channel threatened crop failures due to the lack of
<br />irrigation water.
<br />
<br />20. Ra.ins over the lower reaches of the Purgatolrelolatershed:re-
<br />suited in large discharges fromS.,ith Canyon andOlacuaco Creek. Theu
<br />flows, combined with those from above, produced a peak at the mouth of
<br />the Purgatoire River of 28,000 c.f.s. on 17 June and 56,000 c.f.s. on
<br />18 June. COlorado State Highway 101 bridge acrosS the Purgatoire River
<br />near the mouth was washed out. Some farms near the mouth were flooded.
<br />The Purgatoire River enters the Arkansas River in the upper reaches of
<br />John Martin Reservoir; therefore, flows from this watershed do not con-
<br />tribute to damages in the Arkansas valley.
<br />
<br />14.
<br />th..levee
<br />
<br />T1I" fiood on ArKansas RIver at La Junta, Colorado, breached
<br />onthenorthbankoftheriver<1fldfloodedthecOlllllunityof
<br />
<br />11. John Martin Reservoir had a combined peak inflow from the
<br />Arkansas River and Purgatoire River of 70,000 c.f.s. on 18 June. There
<br />was a con.current inflow from Rule Creek loIhich may have been as much
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