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<br />(Reference 6). The snowmelt runoff from 1983 produced a peak near <br />7,000 cfs. This was the highest peak in 53 years. Extensive <br />channel damage occurred because of the prolonged duration of the <br />runoff. <br /> <br />Buckhorn Creek has flooded on several occasions. The largest <br />floods were in 1923, 1938, '1948, and 1951 with discharges of <br />10,500, 10,200, 5,750 and 14,000 cfs, respectively (Reference 7). <br /> <br />Documentation of floods on Redstone Creek is relatively sparse. <br />However, an intense rainstorm on September 10, 1938, caused <br />flooding in some of the lower areas of the flood plain <br />(Reference 7). <br /> <br />Floods have been recorded in. the Boxelder Creek watershed on 13 <br />occasions since 1900. On August 1, 1961, a storm with a frequency <br />of 50 to 100 years caused an estimated $76,150 in damage in the <br />Wellington vicinity. In May and June 1976, two overlapping 25-year <br />storms caused an estimated $46,100 in damage and took four lives in <br />the Wellington vicinity (Reference 8). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />No record exists of a major flood on Dry Creek in the study area. <br />The absence of even minor flooding is generally attributed to the <br />network of irrigation canals that have some capacity for <br />intercepting Dry Creek flows (Reference 1). <br /> <br />Fish Creek and the Fall River have not often been subject to major <br />flooding, although the Fall River did overflow its banks in 1965 <br />and cause some damage. In July 1982, extensive damage occurred <br />throughout the Town of Estes Park because of the failure of Lawn <br />Lake Dam located in the headwaters of the Fall River. <br /> <br />2.4 Flood Protection Measures <br /> <br />There are no structures along the Big Thompson River or its <br />tributaries that provide a major reduction in floodflows. Numerous <br />levees along the river will contain a high frequency flood (10 and <br />25 years) but provide little protection against the 100-year flood. <br /> <br />In 1970 the U.S, Soil Conservation Service (SCS) proposed to <br />construct five floodwater detention structures in the Boxelder <br />Creek basin. Two of these structures were completed when <br />discharges were computed for the detailed analysis for Boxelder <br />Creek. There are no flood-control structures located in the Cooper <br />Slough basin (Reference 9). <br /> <br />Although they are not actual flood-control structures, Dry Creek <br />nas-several lakes and storage reservoirs that reduce the <br />contributing drainage area by approximately 13 percent. The <br />network of irrigation canals in the Dry Creek basin has some <br />capacity for iutercepting Dry Creek flows (Reference 1). Douglas <br />Lake, al.o an irrigation reservoir, significantly reduces peak <br />discharges. <br /> <br />10 <br />