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RIVERS ROAR IN COLORADO METRO RESIDENTS fLEE HIGH WATER 2 DEAD, 5 MISSING IN WAKE Of fLOODS ON EASTERN SLOPE TUCKER GULCH OVERfLOW RIPS GOLDEN GOLDEN fLOOD DAMAGE PLACED NEAR $8D,000 25 fAMILIES EVACUATED AS BEAR CREEK SPILLS If you are a nevcomer to the Denver reglon, you msy not be aware of the evente which produo!ed the above De>lOpaper headlines. It' 100.1 have experienced these eventa, you vill appreciate the purpose and value of flood p1.6in information. The 1a:f'oncation presented in this booklet Illay spare you. from becoml118 the victim of r""ture floods, The annual toll of socla1 and economic coats Which floods inflict on our communities and the nation 18 8 burden wbicb. neither coo afford. Moreover, the unknO'o'lng individual wbo acquires property in flood hazard areas sod later falls victim to floods suffers personal tragedy with conaequences orteneodurill8 long after the floodl1asheengep.erlllly forgotten. GrOWing urban flood damagea call be attributed to invuion of the flood plslns by cOMCrc1alsndrealdeotlaldevelojXllent, lII1d national expenditures for flood control works have been unable to keep pace with these mOUDting urbstldelllages. To foster pr\1dent use of \1rban flood plsinG, Congress author1zed s national program of flood plain information in the Flood Control Act ot 1960. The Denver progrn~ of flood plain intormation studi~a was initillted under, the 6uthority of this Act at the requeat of the Inter-County Regional Pl8D.1liI18 COlllm1ssion of Denver, Colorado. .. This report aWlmlar1zes the third volume of a SCheduled series of flood plain. informstion reports for the metropolitan region of Denver, Colorado. It pertains to the metropolitao reaches of Bear and Clear Creeks and provide8 inf'ormation 011 the flood potentials and flood hanrd areas of these 8treams. Volu.me I describes flood hazsrd sress of the South Plette River f'rom Waterloo to Brighton, Colored.o, and Volume II describes flood hazard areaa of Sand Creek, Toll Gate Creek, and Lower Cherry Creek. ~/JJ eLJ HARO~~ST.CLAIR C010~~'C~rps of Engineers DiatrictEnglneer INTRODUCTION Besr and Clear Creeka riae intbe mountain.a weatof' Denver and drain adjacent wateraheda of 262 and 575 square milea, respectively. From their headwaters near the Cont1.nental Divide the streelllsf'lowe8stvardtothei r confluences with the South Platte River \/ithin ....tropol1.tao Denver. 'Ihe valleys of both stresOlS are euentially rural in charscter, 'With SOllle urban developroent \/here the streallls flow through metropolitan Denver and the towns of Morrison, G<>lden and Georgetown. Lend USe io the rural area consists essentielly of' stock graziI18 1n.terspersed with grsvel mining oper8tions. Urban.1zation in these valleya has been accelerating in recent yearl. Studies indicate thst by the year 2000, the papulation of metropolitan Denver ",ill ioerease about three times its present llWllber. It is Rnticipated that, 8S Denver grow-a and expsnds, urbanizstion ,,111 move up the vtI11eya aDd reach MorrisOll and Golden by the yesr 2000. FloOding or: the lowlanda adjacent to the streams has been OCClll'ring for centurie8. Lowlands illllllediately sdjaeent to the channel lire flooded 1Il0re frequelltly than those f'arther beck frolll the atres<ll and at higher elevations. In the pest, when valley lands "'ere undeveloped Or devoted to agriculturf!, flooding ceuaed relatively llIinor llIOnetery demage. HOlIever, with the spread of residenti81 and commercisl develOPlOOnt into the flood plsins, floods cause 1nt:ressed damage and disrupt the lives or affected people. At s national level thia developlOOnt of the flood plaina is occurring faster than protection can be provided. An alternative to flood protection is the prudent development of flood plains to reduce the flooddemegepotentiel. This investigation describes the flood problems on Bear Creek from Morr1aon to ita lllo~th and on Clear Creek trolll Golden to its mouth. The Bear Creek reach includes the Denver suburbs of Sheriden-Centennisl, Green Cables and Green Mountein and the to\ln of Morrison; the Clear Creek reech includes the suburben areas of Sotlth "estm1n.lIter, Whestrldge.Leke"ood, Arvsda, Relaton and the town of Golden. ,