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<br />FUTUREFLOOOS <br /> <br />would be much less severe than the Standard Project Flood. Compar- <br />ison of Intermediate Regional Flood depths at various locations in <br />Wray can be made by referring to the stream profile on plate 6. <br /> <br />This section of the report discusses the lnterp~diate <br />Regional Flood and the Standard Project Flood for the North Fork <br />Republican River at Wray and the hazardS of great floods. Floods <br />the size of the Standard Project Flood represent reasonable upper <br />limits of e~pected flooding. Those of the size of the Intermediate <br />Regional FloOd represent floods that may reasonably be e~pected to <br />occur more frequently although they will not be as hign as the <br />Standard Project Flood. <br /> <br />Standard Project Flood. Severe as the ma~illlUlI known <br />flood may have been on any given stream, only in rare instances will <br />It have reached what hydrologists regard as the ma~lmum flood poten- <br />tial of the basin. The threat of flooding in e~cess of any past <br />event must be recognized. The Corps of Engineers. In cooperation <br />with the Weather Bureau, has made broad and comprehensive studies <br />based on the voluminous records of past storms and floods and ~s <br />evolved generali~ed procedures for estimating the flood potential of <br />streams. These procedures have been used in determining the Stand- <br />lIrdProjectFloodforWray. Th1s flood is defined as the largest <br />flood that can be e~pected from the most severe combination of mete- <br />orological and hydrological conditions that are considered reason. <br />ably characteristic of the geographical region involved. <br /> <br />Unfortunately, when data for the Intermediate Regional <br />Flood or the Standard Project Flood are presented, many people tend <br />to ignore them in the mistaken belief that they could not occur <br />during their lifetime. Actually, the chance of a flood the si~e of, <br />or greater than the Intermediate Regional Flood occurring in the <br />ne~t 25 years is better than 1 to 4. <br /> <br />Intermediate Regional Flood. The Intermediate Regional <br />Flood IS defined as a flood having an average freQuency of occur- <br />rence in the order of once in 100 years at a oesignated location <br />although the flood can occur in any year. Probability estimates of <br />this kind are normally based on statistical analyses of streamflow <br />records available for the watershed understudy. The estimate for <br />the North Fork Republican River was determined in this way. Since <br />there are no available official records of severe flooding in the <br />basin above Wray. adjustments were made to the basic analysis to <br />refl~ct the potential for severe flooding frc~ cloudburst storms <br />occurring in the area. <br /> <br />Standard Project storm rainfall used for the North Fork <br />Republican River amounts to 5.4 inches in 3 hours. 10.0 inches in <br />24 hours. and a total of 12.1 inches in 96 hours. Tne 24-hour rain- <br />fall amount for the Standard Project Flood is over 3 inches more <br />than the greatest rainfall recorded at Wray. The peak discharge <br />calculated from these rainfall amounts would be 11,100 cubic feet <br />per second at Wray. The flood profile for the Standard Project <br />Flood is also shown on plate 6. <br /> <br />!t is not practical to assig~ a frequency to the Stand~ <br />arc Project Flood because the occurrence of such a flood would be <br />a rare event although it could occur in any year. <br /> <br />Results of these studies indicate that the Intermediate <br />Regional Flood would have a peak discharge of 4.200 cubic feet DeT <br />second at Wray. A flood of this magnitude could be disastrous but <br /> <br />17 <br /> <br />" <br />