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<br />Approximate analyses were used to study those areas having a low <br />development potential or minimal flood hazards. <br /> <br />2.2 Community Description <br /> <br />The City of Boulder is located in central Boulder County, along <br />the foothills of the Front Range, in north-central Colorado. <br /> <br />,,! <br /> <br />In 1980, Boulder had a <br />increase of 14.7 percent <br />expected to continue with <br />plain areas. <br /> <br />population of 76,685 (Reference 1), an <br />since 1970. This population growth is <br />further expansion into identified flood- <br /> <br />'l{ <br /> <br />The study area includes the drainage basins of seven streams <br />located throughout the Boulder area. All study streams are <br />tributary to Boulder Creek, with a total drainage area of <br />approximately 23.2 square miles. The elevation in Boulder ranges <br />from 8,520 feet at the headwaters of Fourmile Canyon Creek to <br />5,155 feet at the confluence of Fourmile Canyon Creek with Boulder <br />Creek. <br /> <br />The Bear Canyon, Skunk, Twomile, and Fourmile Canyon Creek basins <br />originate in the foothills west of the City of Boulder. The <br />terrain of these upstream subbasins is steep and rocky and <br />consists of topsoils in the C and D hydrologic soils group, as <br />classified by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (Reference 2). <br />Vegetation consists of evergreen trees with occa- sional areas of <br />natural grasses and weeds. <br /> <br />All stream reaches east of the foothills, except for those on <br />Fourmile Canyon Creek, are located within urbanized areas with <br />occas ional open-space and park areas. The terrain of these sub- <br />basins consists of mild slopes with topsoils in the Band C <br />hydrologic soils group with some D soils. Vegetation for most of <br />the stream reaches is characteristic of urban areas. Fourmile <br />Canyon Creek is located in sparsely developed agricultural areas. <br />Vegetation along Fourmile Canyon Creek and the downstream reaches <br />of- Bear, Skunk, Goose, and Wonderland Creeks consists of natural <br />grasses and weeds. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The entire reaches of Bear Canyon, Skunk, Fourmile Canyon, and <br />EImers Twomile Creeks consist of well-defined channels. <br />Wonderland Creek has a well-defined channel, except for the reach <br />southeast of Valmont Road. Both Twomile and Goose Creeks have <br />extensive reaches without well-defined channels. <br /> <br />,.,!, <br /> <br />The climate of <br />average annual <br />average annual <br />respect to the <br /> <br />the study area is classified as semiarid. The <br />precipitation is 18.3 inches, which includes an <br />snowfall of 83 inches (Reference 3). Location with <br />foothills west of Boulder has a slight influence on <br /> <br />5 <br />