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, , ;,<. I,:'. 'I " ' J",p' '! ;,<1." . , Figure 3. ST. CHAALES RIVER BRIDGES Top view is 1_25 Eost La~o bridge dt mil~ 13.33. Hottom view is I~25 West Lane bridge at Mile 23.35. 18 St. Charlae River during the yesrs 1921 through 1925. A gaging station at the 21th Lene bridge produced continuous records of streamflowe from 1942 through 1955. Descriptive accounts of past floods in the Pueblo eroa, as auailable in newspaper files end other historical documents, are primeri~Y concerned with the larger aspects of flooding on the Arkansas River or fountain Cresk. Publications of the U.S. Geo- logIcal Survey end Colorado Wetsr Reoords were additionai souroes ofinform<'!Uon. Flood Stanes and Oischaroes Peak discharges end flood crest stegae elong the St. Cherles River ere typiaal of perennial straams of the Southwestern United States. Valley starega and high infiltration rates dimin- ish discharges progressively as flows pess downstream. floods on the St. Charles River sre characterized b~ high peek f10w9 of mod- erately short duration, ranging from 8 to 2Q hours. Tehle 4 lists gage heights end discharges for the known floods exceeding bankfull stege at stream gaging stations which were maintained within the study reach at specified locations and times. Table 5 lists the highest ten recorded flows in order of magnitude since 1921. flood Occurrences Most of the major flood-producin9 storms over the St. Charles watershed occur during the summer months from May through ~u9ust. Ouring this period, meS~es of warm, moist eir from the Gulf of Me~ice and ce1d, comparatively dry sir from the poler re- gions combine ov~r the srea to Cause incressed thunderstorm activity. The severest ~torm~ often gener~te in the traneitional periods of 1ete spring end eerly fell when poler eir intrusions ere most in- tensivs. Wintst pt8cipitetion results when moisture-heering ei~ 19