FLOOD04566

• County: Boulder
• Community: Boulder
• Stream Name: Gregory, Bear Can, Bluebell Can Creeks, Viele Chan
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Major Drainageway Planning Volume 1, Part C
• Date: 9/1/1970
• Prepared For: Boulder County
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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Mr. T. K. Dieffenderfer, 12 September 1970
Letter of Transmittal
South Boulder Major Drainageways

Page 2

publ iC'health, solid waste disposal, lower building construction cost, and more open
space and better opportunities for recreation. In regard to the latter, you will note
that the development of hiking and bicycle paths are stressed and that bridge and
culvert openings take into consideration the needs of the pedestrian.

Special benefits are available to the University community in that opportunities
will exist for foot and bicycle paths to tie into the proposed Wellman Canal path, and
from the University property near Bear Canyon Creek and East Arapahoe to the Univer-
s ity lands near the Turnpike, and to the main campus via the Wellman Canal and the
proposed Bluebell channel along 28th Street.

Some 20 storage ponds are included in the plan, and many of these are shown as
having permanent pools which will be kept fresh by flowing water, The Parks and
Recreation Department of the City should review the location of these ponds to deter-
mine whether or not additional neighborhood green areas would be desirable.

The cost of the proposed urban drainage facilities is estimated at $9,502,700,
We bel ieve that about 35 percent of this money wil I need to be generated locally. The
remainder should be available from state and federal agencies. The specific sources
and amounts would be defined during the development of the financial strategy. One
of the reasons it is possible to depend upon state and federal sources is the fact
that Boulder drainage basins extend outside of the City, and this water must be carried
through the City. The Urban Drainage and Flood Control District can be helpful and
should be able to provide much needed leadership in developing the financial strategy.
It is well recognized that Nature will always extract some price for the use of her
flood plains, The plan presented in this report is aimed at reducing the price which
those in South Boulder will have to pay for having encroached onto the rights-of-way
which had already been claimed for flood waters. As a parallel effort to construc-
tion of channels and designation of flood plains, the City should move promptly to
make flood insurance available to the residents. It will be noted that flood insurance
is an integral part of the plan on upper Gregory Creek.

The Master Plan development attempted to fully util ize the report of the Task
Force on Federal Flood Control Pol icy which was headed by Dr. Gilbert White of the
University of Colorado. We would I ike to point out that Dr. White's report, which
was transmitted to Congress on August 10, 1966, formed the basis for the Urban Storm
DrainaQe Criteria Manual of the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and his
leadership and guidance in this complex field is evident throughout this report.

Your help and guidance on this effort, coupled with that of Mr. Andy Briscoe,
Mr. Ted Tedesco, Mr. Kent Dewell, and the County representatives, is very much
appreciated. It is hoped that this resulting report wil] provide a guide for
development of adequate storm drainage measures in South Boulder and that it will
demonstrate the excessive costs of rapid development without strict regulation and
adherence to good planning.

KRW: e j

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Very truly yours

Attachment

WRIGHT-McLAUGHLIN ENGINEERS
// r-./J J'
By /L~'/ UI./'7
Kenneth R. Wrlgnt .

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