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SECTION I In 1969, a large rambling area of ~effer~on.County wa~ incorpor7 atad into the City of Lakewood. w~th th~s ~ncorpora~~on, the C~ty of Lakewood inherited many of the problems of the W7~r Gulc~ a~d. Sanderson Gulch basins. The city's analysis of dra~nage pnor~t~es placed Sanderson Gulch and Weir Gulch at the top of the list. The result of this priority analysis was the City's req~est for propos- als for analysis of weir Gulch and Sanderson Gulch ~n early 1971. At the same time as the City of Lakewood was beginning to under- take a study of the gulches on its own, the Urban D~ainage and Flood Control District, which had also been formed ~n 1969, be- came involved as a coordinating body for efforts of the C~ty and County of Denver and the City of Lakewood. The Urb~ Dra~~age District was successful in the latter part of 1971 ~n obta~nlng an agreement between the City of Lakewood, the City and County of Denver and Jefferson County on a contract for major drainage~ay planni~g of the two basins to be administered by the Urban Dra~n- age and Flood Control District. In October,.1971 a.contract was signed with Frasier & Gingery, Inc., consult~ng englneer~, for the major drainageway planning of Sanderson Gulch and We~r Gulch. The result of this contract is the two volume report presented hereinafter. INTRODUCTION This text presents the narrative portion of a two volume report dealing with major drainageway planning for Sanderson Gulch, North Sanderson Gulch, weir Gulch, North Weir Gulch, and South Weir GUlch major drainageways through the cities of Lakewood and Denver, and Jefferson County, Colorado. The second volume of the report contains plan and profile sheets presenting the master plan for the gulches in plan and profile form. The report is prepared under contract to the Crban Drainage and Flood Control District in conjunction with the local governmental entities of the City and County of Denver, City of Lakewood, and Jefferson County, Colorado. WHY STUDY WAS INITIATED The history of drainage problems on Weir Gulch dates back to the earliest development along the gulch. The earliest develop- ment along the lower reaches of weir Gulch was under the juris- diction of Arapahoe County in the 1~3D's when proper planning of major drainageways was practically unheard of in the metro- politan area. Severe encroachments on the gulch Channel had occurred prior to annexation of the area into the City and County of Denver. In 1958, in an attempt to control the development ~long the gulch, the City of Denver initiated a flood plain zoning ordinance along both Sanderson and Weir Gulches. This zoning did much to restrict development in portions of Sanderson GUlch but was too late to have a major beneficial effect on Weir Gulch which had already developed to a great extent. In addition, portions of the gulch still located outside the City and County of Denver in Jefferson County continued to develop with little or no control. SCOPE OF WORK The scope of services set forth in the engineering agreement is qUlte detailed and proved to be an excellent guide for work to be completed. The study is broken into two phas7s. Phase A dealt with development of alternative plans, approxlmate costs, damage potential and recommendations for improvements to the gulches. Based upo~ the results of Phase A, the local entities and the ~rban Droliniluu olnd Flood Control Oistrict were allowed to make dec~sions on dn :"lterndlive Lo Le dedll with in detail in the second phase. Phase B then became the detailed master planning and report prepar- ation phase of the contract. In October, 1968 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers released f'lood Plain Information Study, Volume IV, covering Weir Gulch from Sheridan Boulevard to South Flower Street. In Noverrber, 1970 the Corps released the next Flood Plain Information Study, Vol~~e V, covering Sanderson Gulch from Sheridan Boulevard to Wadsworth Boulevard and North Sanderson Gulch from its confluence with Sanderson Gulch to Wadsworth Boulevard. These reports were prepared largely through the efforts of the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Although they defined clearly the inun- dation levels for both the Intermediate Regional Flood and the Star-dard Project Flood, they were of little effect in themselves since ddequate flood plain regulations were not in effect in Jefferson County. In addition, t.he majority of the area covered by the Studies had already been developed. Tho following rr~jor points are included in the scope of work. Development of Alternative Plan - Phase A A, A2, Preliminary meetings and basic da~a gathering Shall be done to assure that the study lS in compliance with the wishes of involved parties amI that uupli'-'d- tion of effort does not takc place. Preliminary hydrological studies shall be ~erformed in a manner of sufficient detail to determ~ne the approximate magnitude of peak rate of runoff and volume of runoff for each of the basins in order to permit the development of alternative plans. This A1. -2-