|
<br />I]
<br />
<br />"
<br />
<br />HISTORY Or FLOODING
<br />
<br />2~ days, flows grea(~r than 1.500 and 2,000 cub ic feet ~er second
<br />'~ere cont ;nuou. for per iods of 16 days and 3 days, respect i vcly. As
<br />rney be juOged from the foregoing, and,il.previouslystated, the 1917
<br />and 191d floods were very similar inmegnitude, differingprincip ally
<br />lntn,,;, in,tantancouspeakflows, Newspaper account" of the 1918
<br />flood, ,how that numerouS brl<Jg," In Imd around Aspen were destroyed
<br />or ",riously damaged, and Ihat, due to destruction of streamcro.5ing.
<br />!nOther I",calities, the town waS cut offcxcept for the ral1roJd. At
<br />the peak of the flood, bridges still Handing had 2 or more fcet of
<br />.wiftlyflowingwaterovcrthedecking. A pipeline carrying Hunter
<br />Creek .."ter u) the town was ""shed out and the community had to get
<br />along or> ~bout one-ha I f norma 1 supp Iy for ~Imose 2 months, For a time,
<br />floodwaters threatened destruction of ehe Case1e Creek water nain and
<br />tota I loss of mun icipal water supp Iy, '~reckage of destroyed brl dges
<br />ludged against and threatened deseructlon of other bridges, and great
<br />effort was expended in floodfighting tosafeg<Jard the structures
<br />threatened. In Aspen, the east end of Main Street waS undermined and
<br />washed away, Commercial Hructures In Chis are<lwere threatened, and
<br />homes in low-Iyir>g areas were surrounded by floodwater, However. little
<br />resldentl~1 damage occurred except for lawns and gardens, many of which
<br />were destroyed bycrosion and deposition of debris. In 1957,brldges,
<br />ro~ds, and adjacent pasture land. were dam.oged. In Aspen, the S laughter-
<br />house {Red Butte Road) BrlegeandHospleJIBrldgewereamongthosemost
<br />severel y d~m"ged in PI tkin County, E,..,rgency construct Ion ee~ms worked
<br />eontlnously to keep ro.lds open "nG It was neceHary to detour trdffic,
<br />In One case. an old unu,cd roadway was temporarily re,tored bccause
<br />,he rcgul~r route '..as expeCted to be impa".ab Ie lo~g after floodwilters
<br />subsided."
<br />
<br />The history of flooding in the Roaring Fork River Is described in the
<br />following excerpt from the FToodPiain Information report for Aspe",
<br />C"loraclo prepared by theU,S. ArOlyCOrpsofEngineers In Jllf1eof 1973,
<br />(ReferenceS)
<br />"5UMHARYOFHISTORICAL,LOODS
<br />Aspen is kn'Mn to have a long history of floods, the earliest of
<br />record OCCur rl ng in 1880-- I year a fte r the city wd~ eHab I ished. Large
<br />floods a 1'0 occurred in 1!i8~, 191". 1915, 1917, 1918. 1921, and 1957,
<br />In general, the flood that occurred ir>June-July 1917;sconsidered
<br />ehe most severe known in the Aspen area, During that flood. the Roar-
<br />ing Fork RI ycr had iln instanta~eous peak flow of 3,170 cubic feet per
<br />second, Major early-summer snowmelt floods abo occurred in the ASpM
<br />area In 1918 and 1921 when instantar>eouspe"k flows reached 2,360 and
<br />2,310 cubic feet per second, re,>pectively, In general. the 1917 and
<br />1918 floods wcre very s Imi lar in mag~i tude. The mo,t recent flood
<br />occurred in June and July 1957, Flow during that flood crested at
<br />1.910 cubic f""t per second on 29 June. So;"" flooding occurred In
<br />June 1971 >Ihen flow in the Roarj~g Fork creqed at 1,020 cubic feet
<br />per second,but damage was minor. Record. availablc for Castle Creek
<br />show flows of 890 dnd 1.090 cubic feet per second, respectively, in
<br />1917 and 1918. Flow records for HLmter Creek during najor fl<X)d periods
<br />are not available.
<br />
<br />FLOOD RECORDS
<br />
<br />Inforfll<ltion on the carl ier hi ,tor leal floods th"t have occurr~d
<br />in the study ~rea I s very I imi ted bec"us" st re,'mflow records were not
<br />be in~ made, ~y..-witn"ss "ccounts are not now ava liable_ .md "'mtempnc-
<br />ary cecords are pc~ct lc~ Ily none,xi stf'nt. S;>eci fl c informat ion on more
<br />recent flood~. except for streJmflow data, ;. a Iso ver'y i Imited because
<br />Aspen had a very ,mall popul~tlon and wa, largely undeveloped at the
<br />timcmajorfloodsoccucred. Newsaccountsofearlyfloods<Jrcnor>_
<br />existent or ',ery urodetal led, and do not COver flood log In rur~1 dred'
<br />where flood ing was often more exte~s I ve than in Aspen, In gcner" I
<br />informat ion on ~a~t floods is based on newspaper ~ccounts, interYI~w:;
<br />with longtime residents of th., "red. ..md flow dat~ published in IJ.S,
<br />Geological Survey water supply pa~ers.
<br />FLOOD DF~r.RI PT IONS
<br />\.II eh the excepl Iv" or flow dal~ for tM" Roar ing Fork R iver ~t
<br />A'pen, I i It ie Is know~ about the flood of June'July 1917. 5t reamflow
<br />records show that flows greater eh"n 1,000 cubic feet pcr seCMd con-
<br />tinued for' a period of 28 days, and flow,> of dbout 2,000 cubic feet
<br />per ~econd '.-Je re cant i n uo"~ for $ d"ys. F lows ~reater tMan 1,500 cub i c
<br />feet ppr 'eco~d ~ont inuee for a periOd of 1(, Jdn. During the 1~la
<br />flcoo, flow, greater endn 1,000 cub ic feet p~r seco~d cone i nued for
<br />
|