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<br />dam, Spring Creek drainage basin's 12 square mile~ of uncontrolled area has a mean basin <br />elevation of about 5050 feet, m.s.l. Downstream of Horse tooth Reservoir, Spring Creek has an <br />average channel slope of about 52 feet per mile. <br /> <br />Floods occurred on Spring Creek in 1902, 1904, 1938, 1949, and 1951 prior to the completion of <br />Horsetooth Reservoir. The Horsetooth Reservoir Was completed in the early 1950's aIld has <br />helped reduce flooding problems by reducing the drainage area. The most recent floods <br />occurred in 1975 and 1977, causing flooding in several basements, and again in 1983 when a <br />storm sewer which carries Spring Creek under a mobile home park surcharged, aIld water ponded <br />to a depth of several feet. Property damage was in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. <br /> <br />In 1992, the City of Fort Collins completed a serie~ of channel and floodplain improvements <br />along Spring Creek for flood protection and recreation. The multiple projects removed a number <br />of properties from the flood hazard area and created a public trail system for recreation. <br /> <br />Dry Creek <br /> <br />Dry Creek is a left bank tributary of the Cache La Poudre River. Dry Creek flows south through <br />the northeast portion of Fort Collins before joining the Cache La Poudre River south of Fort <br />Collins Airpark. The basin is about 23 miles long iUld 3 to 3.5 miles wide and has a drainage area <br />of about 65 square miles. Basin elevations range fi:om 6960 feet, m.s.!. near its headwaters to <br />4910 feet, m.s.!. near its mouth. . <br /> <br />In the upper portion of the basin, the stream is stee:p, narrow, aIld deeply incised with active <br />headcutting. Lower in the basin, the Dry Creek channel is relatively stable with wide, shallow <br />floodplains except below the Larimer and Weld Canal in Fort Collins, where the channel does <br />not exist in severa! areas. Upstream from the Alta Vista Community, the Dry Creek channel is <br />undefined except for a small drainage ditch just d()wnstream from College Avenue. Extensive <br />commercial and residential development is locate<i within the Dry Creek floodplain from College <br />Avenue to the Larimer and Weld CaIlal. Downstre:am from the Larimer aIld Weld Canal, the Dry <br />Creek channel has been obliterated from Willox Lane to downstream from the trailer court. In the <br />Fort Collins Airpark, the disposal of building material and other filI in the Dry Creek channel has <br />reduced its capacity. <br /> <br />Dry Creek has not had serious flooding below the Eaton Ditch since the early 1950's. This <br />absence of even minor flooding is generally attributed to the network of irrigation canals that <br />have some capacity for intercepting small to moderate Dry Creek flows. Flood history prior to <br />this time period is unclear. Before substarltial development occurred in the area, flows could <br />often be ignored where little damage was incurre<i. <br /> <br />The flood of 1904 is documented in a newspaper account which stated that the Water Supply and <br />Storage compaIlY got a lot of water from Dry Creek, storing in the Rocky Ridge reservoir at the <br />rate of nearly 500 feet per second. One death froIh the 1904 flood is documented, John <br /> <br />12 <br />