FLOOD03463

• Designation Number: 72
• County: Adams
• County: Arapahoe
• County: Douglas
• Community: Denver Metro Region
• Stream Name: Van Bibber Creek
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Major Drainageway Planning - Van Bibber Creek
• Date: 3/1/1977
• Designation Date: 7/1/1977
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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-4-

and Pineridge Drive near the headwaters.

major road crossings are shown on Sheet 1

Drainage Basin Boundaries.

The irrigation and
of the drawings,

for flood damage. Upstream of 58th and Oak, the drainage system
is crossed by numerous street and irrigation ditches but the
natural flood plain is still in evidence. As a result, the flood
damage potential in this area is considered to be low.

The lower 1.5 miles of the Van Bibber Creek flood plain are
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fully developed. Approximately half of this length inCludes the
commercial area around the Arvada Plaza Shopping Center. The
remainder of this developed flood plain includes single and
multi-family residential development, a county maintenance
yard and a church. Most of the area upstream of this reach
is undeveloped and the land use is primarily agricultural
and open space oriented. Currently, there is one major residential
development along the creek in Jefferson County, Apple Meadows,
with another in the planning stages. The Apple Meadows develop-
ment provides a wide greenbelt along Van Bibber Creek.

Drainage Structure Inventory

As reported earlier, there are five irrigation canals and
ditches which cross the Van Bibber Creek drainageway and the
South Tributary to Van Bibber Creek. In addition, there are
15 road crossings. These crossing f~cilities are artificial
obstructions to flood flows and will impede flood flows and
sometimes redirect flood waters to undesirable routes and
locations. Each of these structures is listed in Table I,
along with a description of the type and size of the facility
in addition to the computed hydraulic capacity of the structure.

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The location of the main Van Bibber Creek channel generally
follows the location of the historic channel as ascertained
from old USGS Quadrangle Maps. Urban development in the lower
reaches of the creek, below Kipling, has lead to enclosing the
creek into a storm sewer. Above this point, the channel thalweg
follows the historic location.

Two reservoirs exist within the basin which will have an impact
on the degree of flooding downstream of the facility. These
reservoirs are the Hyatt Lake Reservoir and Ramstetter Reservoir.
Both reservoirs fall within the jurisdiction of the State
Engineer. However, for Hyatt Lake, which was constructed in
1863, there are no plans or specifications on file with the
State. Hyatt Lake is owned by the Farmer's Reservoir
and Irrigation Company. Plans and specifications for Ramstetter
Reservoir, owned by the Soil Conservation Service were approved
by the State on June 4, 1943, and are on file in the office of
the State Engineer.

Flooding Potential

An evaluation of the Van Bibber Creek basin, completed by
the UD&FCD in Project REUSE, (Ref. 1), ranked the basin as
having probable future development in the lower reaches and
minimum future development in the upper reaches. Also, the
channel status was rated to range from marginal capability in
the lower reach to adequate but restricted in the upper reaches.
The lower reach of the Creek, from Oak and 58th to the confluence,
represents a channel reach with limited capacity both from a
structural and hydraulic standpoint, and thus a high potential

Both dams, located in the upper part of the tributary basins,
have adequately sized spillways to pass the lOO-year flood
event.