FLOOD03597 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

;; rloo~ DAs~,iption3 ~vailable historical records of floods i~ the Pu~blo r~gion 5i~ce the mid-leOO's ~re primarily infor~otive on fiooding effects of the Ark~nsas River and fountain CrBek. Refere~ces to the smaller tribut~ry streo~s in the area app~ar only rarely in ~arly n~wspapet accounts, a~d spacific infcrmation on th~ inten- sity, duration, end megnituda of tha storms and flood effects fo. the study reaches of this report_-Wild Horss-Dry Creek, Dry C.eek, and Goodnight Arroyo--is ganarally lacking, Research indicetes that th~ historio~l floods recorded in 1864, 1894, 1921, and 1935, involving ~ajor flooding in the vicinity of Pueblo, moet probably incl~ded simultaneous flooding on the study re~ches ao well, In the following des~riptions of Pueblo's 1894 a~d 1921 floods, references to Dry Creek apply to ~ild Horse~Dry Creek as de.cribed p.eviously in this report. DRY CREEK r~a y 30, 1894 Under the headl1M "Highest ~'eter on R<:>cord Visits Pueblo," the Colorado Chh,ft~in reporta1: "The diSAstrous flood was probably Ga~sed by the vary extensive reins in thB Arkensas VHllay above Pueblo ~hich have been prevalent for th~ past 48 hours, Thsauddanfloodiftgofthebu5insos-portionofth"city C<lTIa f.om the enormo~s ","ount of water ..hich Ca"(I down Dry Crask." The Stream "nd Its Valley Dry Creek is a north_bank tributary of the ~rkansas River. The banana-sh"p~d .."tershed, spanning a dista~ce of S,S miles from the h~"d~eters to ths mouth and with a ~aximum ~idth of 1.3 milliS, constitutes " drainag~ ar"" of 5,4 squers miles, Elevations in the ~atsrshed very from S,265 feet at the headwaters to 4,60B feet at the Arka~8ae River co~fluence. An sphsmeral stream, Dry Crellk originates at the southern extrsmity of Baculits Mssa in the high plains northeast of Pueblo and flows in a southerly direction to disoharge into the Arkansas River bstween Pueblo's Booth Street and Neileon Ave_ nue, The ~reok flo~~ ere tho =esult of "no~~elt ~nd r~1nfall runoff d~ring the winter and early spring. Durin~ the sum~er monthS, the flows result from thunderstorms or general r~ins over th~ en_ U=e wahrshed. The rollin9 high plains terrain is fairly rough, bro_ ken, and aparsBly ve9Bt~ted. The v~9~tation i. typical of ths semi_ arid high pl~ins__predominantly saS" brush, cactue, and netive gress. The study reach extends f~om the ~outh of D~y CTaek ~t the Arkansas River to ~ilB 3.2C, app~ox1matsly 1.6 ~iles north of the U.S. Kighway 50 Bypass bridge. Floods in the study teach normally originste fr~" r~noff of the entire ~at~rshed d~e to ths June3_5,l921 The USCS Water_Supply Paper ~87, "The Arkansa" River flood of June 3_S, 1921," furni~hed ths following inform"Uon: "Jry C.~.,k, which drains ",n are" of 82.8 squa:e "iles ju~t ~est of PueblO on the nerth side of the Arka~saa, weS subj8ct to its cevero~t fleod the night of J'".ne 2.... At 11 p .m, the bridga avo: TOJcnty_Fou"th Street in Pue~lo wa~ "a~hcc out.... This Hcod c"u~ed the river at Pueblo to rise by 2 II .C!'., June 3, to a stags of 13,7 feet on the 5tate gage j~"t be~o~ the ~8in StrBet bridgs.... fhs ma~imu'" dis<:h8rge ot" ths 'st~ea" In tho fi~$t flood "~,, fou~d tobs24,4CCc,.;bicfeetpers8conc". limited arelll extent of the drainage. The steep slopes end long narrow shnpe of the drainage ~re conducivg to f~ot ris~$ anu high peak flows of short du"ation. The ~verage slope in tho watershed io approxi~utely 114 feot per mile but, ~ithin the $t~dy reach, is only 49 feet par mila, Stree",bed alsvatione within the study reach vary fro~ "pproximately 4,60B feet at the mouth to 4,766 f~et at Mile 3.20. flsod plain widths ~ould vllry from about SO feet naar the mo~th during an lntarmodiatu Regionol flood to a Maxi~um of 130 feet ne8r the pipe trestle at Mi~a 0.74 ~uring 3 Standard Project flood. Perti~ent drain~ge arsas of Dry Creek a,~ given in T~bls 3. n "