FLOOD03666

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colorado
• Stream Name: All
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 1965 Flood Disasters in Colorado
• Date: 11/1/1965
• Prepared For: Colorado General Assembly
• Prepared By: Colorado Legislative Council
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

tions for assistance, including three duplications, were received by
the Colorado Soil Conservation Board following the June floods. Of
these, 23 were approved for detailed planning leading to a work plan
as part of the watershed program in Colorado under Public Law 566, and
12 of these 23 proposals have been authorized for installation. All
of these would be small watershed projects, or the utilization of land
conservation treatment practices in conjunction with small structures,
and, while not designed as primarily flood control projects, would
serve to help control stream flow.

1965 Special Session

Governor John A. Love called the members of the General Assembly
into an extraordinary session on July 16th primarily to consider
"legislation increasing the excise tax on motor and special fuels, and
to provide for the expenditure of funds therefrom for the costs of the
reconstruction and repair of the public highways of the State destroyed
or damaged by the June and July, 1965, flood disasters." Prior to
this session, the staff of the State Highway Department devoted con-
siderable efforts to obtaining information on the flood damages to the
public highways in Colorado for use by the governor in calling upon
the legislative body for action.

In his message to the General Assembly on July 16th, the gover-
nor reported that damages to the public highways in this state, in-
cluding county and city roads, streets, and bridges, stood in excess
of $18 million. Further, "we have estimated that $10,245,000 will be
available from federal sources. Approximately $4~ million of this
amount will be made available through the Federal Highway Act Emergency
Fund on a matching basis. The balance of the federal funds will be
allocated through the Office of Emergency Planning -- not on a matching
basis, but under a determination of the amount necessary to accomplish
temporary or emergency repairs. The hard financial facts are these:
After all of these funds have been allocated, we still will need a
closely estimated $8,385,000 in state funds to finish the job." The
governor then proposed that "we increase our tax on gasoline and
special fuels on a temporary basis and appropriate the proceeds of
such increase to a special emergency fund to be used for the purpose
of repair and restoration."

In meeting this problem of emergency financing, the General
Assembly closely followed the recommendations of the governor. House
Bill No. 1002, 1965 special session, imposed a one-cent increase in
the tax on motor fuels for a 13-month period from August 1, 1965,
through August 31, 1966, with the revenue therefrom to be used for the
reconstruction or repair of the public highways in this state which
were destroyed or damaged by the flood disasters during the period of
June 14 through July 13, 1965. In order to expedite the carrying into
effect of the emergency reconstruction program, Section 4 (3), H.B.
1002, provided the state Highway Commission with the following powers:

"(a) To enter into contracts now authorized by law, and par-
ticularly pursuant to article 13 of chapter 120, C.R.S. 1963, with any
county, city and county, city, or incorporated town for the reconstruc-
tion, repair, and the restoration of any public highways under their
respective jurisdictions, whereby the costs thereof shall be paid in
part by the state.

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