FLOOD04360

• County: Bent
• Community: Las Animas
• Stream Name: Arkansas River
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Interim Report on Review Survey for Flood Control
• Date: 8/1/1963
• Prepared For: Las Animas
• Prepared By: US Army Corps of Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

<

119. The largest recorded floods on the Arkansas River at Las
Animas occu,-red in 1921 and 1955 when estimated peak discharges of
187,000 c.f.s. and 44,000 c.t-s., respectively, were reached. Barrier
Dam, constructed by the Pueblo Conservancy District in 1924-25 about
6 mi les above Pueblo, would have reduced the 1921 flood to 140,000
c.f.s. at Las Animas. Recurrences of the 1921 and 1955 floods under
the existing state of development would cause damages of $3,135,000
and $275,000, respectively. The Pueblo Dam and Reservoir, an element
of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, has been authorized for construction
by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the Arkansas River at approximately
the same site as the Barrier Dam. If this dam had been in operation,
the peak discharge of the 1921 flood would have been reduced to 108,000
c.f.s. at Las Animas and the damages to $2,490,000. The peak discharge
of the 1955 flood would have been reduced to 38,000 c.f.s. and the
damages therefrom to $152,000.

120. During the publ ic hearings, channel straightening and
installation of steel jetties were suggested as a solution to the
flood problem. However, during subsequent meetings with local inter-
ests, the op in i on was expressed that channe I i zat i on a lone wou I d not
solve the problem and that levees also would be required to provide a
permanent solution.

121. Various plans to meet the flood control and related needs
at Las Animas and vicinity were developed, including single- and multiple-
purpose reservoirs on the main stem and tributaries, floodways, levees,
and combinations thereof. The plan found most feasible from an engi-
neering and economic standpoint would be a project for flood control,
designated as the Las Animas Local Protection Project. The project
would consist essentially of 9.6 mi les of levee on the right bank, one
mi Ie of levee on the left bank, and appurtenant interior drainage
faci I ities~ The project would provide protection to 740 acres of
urban and suburban lands, and 6,140 acres of irrigated, grazing, and
miscellaneous lands. The estimated first cost of the project is
$1,725,000, of which $1,541,000 would be Federal and $184,000 would be
non-Federal. City officials expressed a desire for consideration of a
fishery in connection with formulation of the plan of improvement for
flood control at Las An imas. It was found that by borrow ing more of
the required levee fi I I material from a single area Instead of from
several areas, an excel lent fishing lake could be created. Detal Is of
the des i gnof th i slake were coord I nated with the Bureau of Sport
Fisheries and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildl ife Service, and the Colo-
rado Department of Game and Fish and approved by local interests who
have agreed to bear the cost of Its construction, currently estimated
at $33,000.

122. Although the proposed local protection project is a unit In
the comprehensive plan for the development of the water resources of
the Upper Arkansas River Basin, justification for its construction is
not dependent upon completion of any other element of the plan. The

42

R 1/28/64