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<br />The October 4, 1911 flood of the San Juan River basin is the most <br />severe on record and is estimated to have been approximately a 500- <br />year flood, A steady 24-hour rainfall on already saturated soils <br />caused the San Juan Rlver to r1..se 1:.0 a IJ..ooa st:age or: .1.i~6 le~L. III <br />pagosa Springs. Damage was severe, totalling approximately $1,000,000. <br />Two lives were lost during the flood. Highway bridges were destroyed. <br />The power and light company, municipal water plant, and many homes <br />were washed from their foundations. The Rio Grandta Railroad to <br />pagosa Junction was severely damaged, with hundreds of feet of track <br />washed away. <br /> <br />Flooding also occurred in Archuleta County in 1927, with an estimated <br />frequency of 100 years, Two bridges on the San Juan River at pagosa <br />Springs were lost at a peak river stage of 13.5 feet, <br /> <br />On August 31, 1967, at pagosa Springs, McCabe Creek left its banks <br />after a cloudburst and piled mud and debris around several dwellings. <br />The Rio Blanco in Archuleta County has a history of flooding as a <br />result of localized heavy rainfall. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In 1975, two bridges and several ditches along the Rio Blanco were <br />washed out when the river discharge increased from 156 cubic feet <br />per second (cfs) to 2800 cfs in 2 hours, which is approximately a <br />IS-year flood. <br /> <br />History has shown that major flooding, with moderate damage, has <br />occurred at 50-year intervals, while minor flooding and flash floods <br />have occurred approximately every 6 years. <br /> <br />2~4 Flood Protection Measures <br /> <br />No specific flood protection structures have been built in the study <br />areas. However, some flood protection measures are provided in <br />pagosa Springs' Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations and the Build- <br />ing Permit Regulations of Archuleta County. The Town of pagosa <br />Springs has adopted the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, whi9h <br />provides relief ihthe form of federally subsidized flood insurance. <br />The ordinance also provides adequate land use and control measures <br />with effective enforcement provisions consistent with the criteria <br />set forth in Section 1910 of the National Flood Insurance Program <br />regulations. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Section 1.9.1 of the Subdivision Regulations of Archuleta County <br />states that: <br /> <br />No land shall be subdivided for any use where the Board of <br />. County Commissioners find that the land has severe or very <br />severe limitations unless proper mitigation procedures are <br />sufficiently assured to satisfy the evaluation crite~ia out- <br />lined in subsequent sections of these regulations. This would <br /> <br />6 <br />