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<br />storm drainage, and meeting FEMA and City flood plain criteria. Flood Plain <br />Administration oversees FEMA and City regulations and provides information to the <br />community about flood hazards, Water Quality studies watersheds and works with the <br />schools to teach kids about water quality and flooding. Master Planning takes a long <br />term view of solutions to problems in the different basins. <br /> <br />The Stormwater Utility has divided the city into II basins for the purpose of planning <br />and management (Figure 11). The basins most impacted by the July 1997 flood were <br />Spring Creek, the Canal Importation Basin, the Old Town area, which includes the CSU <br />campus, and the West Vine Basin to the north, <br /> <br />Figure 11, 12 <br /> <br />The damages at the trailer park show that normal stormwater planning will not handle <br />extraordinary hazards and that there are many features in a stormwater system other than <br />culverts, pipes; and detention ponds. Near the trailer park, the railroad embankment was <br />designed to hold back the 500-year flow, but the ponded area behind the embankment <br />exceeded the 500-year design, and the culverts under the embankment, which were <br />designed for the lOO-year flow, could not handle this particular storm, and the water <br />overtopped the embankment. Railroad ties were pushed out of place, there was severe <br />erosion on the downstream face of the embankment, and some ballast was eroded as <br />water spilled into the trailer court from the ponded area. <br /> <br />Blockages were a primary problem with the storm drainage system, and College Avenue <br />just downstream of the trailer park was the worst case. Debris from homes and cars <br />floated allover town, and cars were found a week later upside down in a box of one of <br />the bridges, <br /> <br />Since 1989, over $5 million has been spent on storm drainage improvements in the <br />Spring Creek basin, including acquisition and relocation of structures, channelization <br />projects, storm drainage improvements, reinforcement of the railroad embankment, and <br />bridge improvements. In that period, thirty trailers, two homes and a business were <br />removed, and Creekside Park was developed. <br /> <br />In many cases Fort Collins goes beyond federal regulations in flood mitigation work. One <br />example is restrictions on homes built in the flood plain. Other measures include using <br />developed flows rather than current hydrology to size facilities, Land use planning and <br />zoning are also emphasized. <br /> <br />In spite of Fort Collins' preparation, damages were significant, including the CSU <br />campus, flooding in the trailer park, fires, gas explosions, a train derailment, and many <br />individual losses. <br /> <br />Flood Documentation, The City was very concerned about documenting the flood, and <br />on the morning after the disaster, volunteers from local engineering firms and several <br />state and federal agencies were organized to help document the high water marks. Teams <br /> <br />9 <br />