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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />!I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />CHAPTER 2 <br /> <br />Rifle, Colorado Floods ofJuly lSth and 19t\ 2002 <br />Government and Rifle Creeks <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br /> <br />On Thursday, July l8th and Frid.ay July 19'h, <br />2002, two separate storms produced heavy <br />amounts of rainfall on the town of Rifle and <br />it's surrounding area. According to the local <br />police chief; Daryl Meisner, the Thursday <br />storm released approximately 1.5 inches of <br />rain in a 30-minute period sending mud, water <br />and large amounts of debris down <br />Government and Rifle creeks. The <br />precipitation amount for the Frid.ay storm <br />was not documented however, according to <br />a local newspaper, it had similar characteristics to the previous d.ay's event. Despite the <br />significant amount of rainfall produced by these storms, most of the reported flood <br />damage was minor. According to Mr. Meisner, the last serious flood event for Rifle <br />occurred on May l5'h, 1993 which led to the construction ofa flood control dam. <br /> <br />Figure 2.1 - Garfield County Location In the <br />State of Colorado. <br />Map courtesy of the Colorado Herpetological Society. <br /> <br />Location and Description <br /> <br />Rifle, Colorado is located just west of Glenwood Springs along Interstate 70 in Garfield <br />County (see Figure 2.3 on the next page). According to the 2000 Census, Rifle's <br />population is 6,784 out of a total county population of 43,791 (U.S. Census Bureau, <br /> <br /> <br />U1' <br /> <br />co <br /> <br />Figure 2.2 - Colorado Headwaters-Plateau Watershed and Location <br />Obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency's "Surf Your Watershed" webslte. <br /> <br />ICON Englr.eering. Ine <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />January 2003 <br />