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<br />stream gaging station on the White River, 2.5 miles upstream from <br />Meeker, has been in operation every year since 1910. The records <br />from this gaging station show that the largest yearly peaks occur in <br />the late spring and early summer with the periods of high runoff <br />from melting snow lasting from 2 to 3 months. The largest recorded <br />annual flood occurred on June 16, 1921, from melting snow. The <br />recorded flow was 6,370 cubic feet per second (cfs), which is the <br />magnitude of a flood occurring once in 100 years. Damage resulting <br />from that flood consisted of inundation of low lying meadowland <br />adjacent to the White River and a washed out culvert bridge. Other <br />years of high water were 1957, peak flow of 5,220 cf s; 1952, 5,200 <br />cfs; 1901, 5,000 cfs; and 1917, 4,940 cfs. Mr. Dick Lyttle, retired <br />publisher of the Meeker Herald, said that ice jams that did form <br />near Meeker during the winter months were routinely blasted without <br />complication and that there were really no floods on the White River <br />that he could recall in which the water rose above Water Street. <br />Rio Blanco County near the Town of Rangely is subject to periodic <br />flooding from the White River, College Canyon Draw, Coal Mine Draw, <br />and Douglas Creek. Ice jams, rapid snowmelt, rain on snow, general <br />rain, and local thunderstorms are the five most common causes of <br />flooding in this area. Historically, ice jams, rain on snow, and <br />local thunderstorms have caused the greatest flood damage around <br />Rangely. Local residents near Rangely agree that damaging floods <br />occur on the average of once every 7 to 10 years, with the majority <br />occurring from ice jams on the White River (Reference 2). <br /> <br />2.4 Flood Protection Measures <br /> <br />A dam has been const ructed on the Whi te River at the Taylor Draw <br />Reserve approximately 7 miles upstream of the Town of Rangely. The <br />reservoir was not constructed for flood protection purposes. The <br />reservoir storage volume is 13,800 acre-feet for the approximately <br />3,OOO-square-mile drainage area, and has no significant effect on <br />the 100- and 500-year floods. Construction of the dam was completed <br />in the spring of 1984. Though not intended to provide flood <br />protection, it is expected that the dam will indirectly serve to <br />lessen or eliminate flooding problems caused by ice jams in Rangely. <br />It is believed that the dam will provide flood protection since it <br />wilL collect ice flows and fluctuate discharges in the river causing <br />existing ice accumulations to break up, thus preventing blockages. <br /> <br />Other than this dam, <br />affording protection <br />consideration. <br /> <br />there are no Federal flood <br />for Rio Blanco County and <br /> <br />control projects <br />none are under <br /> <br />3.0 ENGINEERING METHODS <br /> <br />For the flooding sources studied by detailed methods in the community, <br />standard hydrologic and hydraulic study methods were used to determine <br /> <br />5 <br />