FLOOD03173

• County: Statewide
• Community: All
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: State of Colorado 2002 Flood Documentation Report
• Date: 1/1/2003
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: ICON Engineering, Inc.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

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Figure 3.8 - Map ofthe Town of Buena Vista in
Relation to the State of Colorado.
Map courtesy of Mapquest website.

Hvdrolol!:ic and Hvdraulic Conclusions

There was no reported flooding associated with any streams or rivers in the studied area.
Any damage was due to the mudslides and overland flow that resulted from the storm.

According to information obtained from Mapquest, and Buena Vista's Chamber of
Commerce website, Buena Vista lies near the headwaters of several major rivers
including the Arkansas. The area surrounding the town has several rivers, creeks, and
drainage ditches. Whitewater rafting in the area is extremely popular and Buena Vista is
even considered by many to be the U.S. capitol of whitewater rafting. The town lies near
an elevation of7945 feet above sea level with Cottonwood Pass, just to the west of the
town, topping out at an elevation of 12,126.

Hydrologic analyses were performed using available baseline data from NOAA Atlas 2 in
order to generate Intensity Duration Frequency, or IDF, curves for rainfall events near the
Buena Vista and Cottonwood Pass area. Using the rainfall amount mentioned in the
Storm Characteristics section of this report, and the estimated duration of the storm, one
could determine the frequency of the specific event. The results of this analysis are
shown in Table 3.1 below.

Table 3.1 - H
Flood Event Date 22, 2002
Studied Duration (hrs) 1.0
5- YR Total Precipitation (in.) 0.90
lO-YR Total Precipitation (in.) 1.10
Total Event Precipitation As Reported (in.) 1.00
Est. Event Fre nene Less Than 10

No flow gages were analyzed in this analysis because there were no reports of flooding
due to nearby streams. However, a USGS flow gage was found on the Arkansas River

ICON Engi:1eering. Inc

22

January 2003