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<br />. <br /> <br />Description of the Study Area <br /> <br />LOCATION <br /> <br />Westerly Creek basin covers portions of Aurora, Denver, and <br /> <br /> <br />Lowry Air Force Base. Westerly Creek enters Sand Creek in the <br /> <br /> <br />vicinity of Stapleton International Airport. Sand Creek is a <br /> <br />right-bank tributary of the South Platte River. The Westerly <br /> <br /> <br />Creek basin is a crescent-shaped area that drains in a northerly <br /> <br /> <br />direction. The basin is about 8.5 miles long, 3 miles wide at <br /> <br /> <br />its widest point, and drains about 18 square miles. The total <br /> <br /> <br />fall in the basin is 425 feet, yielding an average slope of about <br /> <br /> <br />50 feet per mile. Soils near the surface are sandy and provide <br /> <br /> <br />high infiltration capacities under natural conditions. Over 75 <br /> <br /> <br />percent of the basin is urbanized. The basin contains approxi- <br /> <br /> <br />mately 900 acre-feet of detention storage; 80 percent is in <br /> <br /> <br />manmade storm detention facilities of varying effectiveness. <br /> <br /> <br />Approximately 360 acre-feet of this storage is contained in Kelly <br /> <br /> <br />Road Dam. The remaining detention ponds were constructed <br /> <br /> <br />upstream from Kelly Road Dam by the city of Aurora. <br /> <br />CLIMATE <br /> <br />The climate is semiarid and is affected by the Rocky Moun- <br /> <br /> <br />tains immediately to the west. The average annual temperature is <br /> <br /> <br />50 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures can fluctuate widely. <br /> <br /> <br />Periods of extremely hot weather in summer and extremely cold <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />7 <br /> <br />, <br />