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<br />Development in the flood plains is primarily residential, but in- <br />cludes a mobile home park, cabins, and two motels. Some of this <br />development is located on the edge of the Cucharas River banks. <br />The major transportation routes crossing the streams and the flood <br />plains are the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and State <br />Highway 12. <br /> <br />The population of Huerfano County has been declining since the <br />1920s, when coal production began to decline. The 1960 population <br />of Huerfano County was 7,867: by 1970, it had declined to 6,590, <br />with 589 persons residing in La Veta. However, La Veta's popula- <br />tion had increased to 611 by 1980 (Reference 2). <br /> <br />2.3 Principal Flood Problems <br /> <br />Definitive data on velocities, magnitude, and duration of past <br />floods in La Veta are not available. However, interviews with <br />local citizens disclosed that flooding did occur in 1923 and 1946. <br /> <br />The 1923 flood was reportedly caused by the failure of the Mill <br />Lake Dam. The only particular damage was that the railroad bridge <br />was washed out. <br /> <br />The 1946 flood occurred during April or May. The highway bridge <br />was washed out, and the railroad bridge was saved by placing loaded <br />railroad cars on the bridge. However, the railroad bed at each <br />end of the bridge was washed out. Considerable water from the <br />Dyer Ditch flowed down Main Street (State Highway 12). <br /> <br />A search of newspaper files and historical documents did not reveal <br />any additional information on these two floods. <br /> <br />The study area is divided into separate areas governed by two types <br />of runoff. Middle Creek is lower in elevation and more susceptible <br />to rainstorms. Flows from Middle Creek are predominantly from <br />rainfall. The Cucharas River basin rises to 13,000 feet and is <br />bordered on three sides by high mountains, thus preventing any <br />major storm from entering the basin area. Flows from this area <br />are predominantly from snowmelt runoff. <br /> <br />Storms characteristic of the Cucharas River watershed are usually <br />of the thunderstorm or cloudburst type, which are of short duration <br />and cover only a small area. Moisture-laden winds come in contact <br />with the mountain slopes, or conventional air currents over the <br />plains areas, and are forced upward, causing rapid condensation. <br />The result is torrential precipitation. General storms are infre- <br />quent. There are few instances of storms lasting several days. <br />The greatest precipitation normally occurs in the late spring and <br />summer. <br /> <br />5 <br />