FLOOD04656 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

E36 FLOODS OF 1965 IN THE UNITED STATES TABLE l3.-Flood stages and discharges in the Rio Grande basin, May 30-31, in the Carlsbad, N. M ex., area No. Stream and place of determination Maximum :floods Drainage .,.. (sqmi) Known before May 1966 Gog. May 1965 height (feet) Discharge Recur- ors rence interval (years) 1 Pecos River below McMilla.nDam. 2 South Seven Rivers near Lakewood. 3 Roeky Arroyo near Carlsbad. 4 Rocky Arroyo at highway bridge near CarIsbad. 5 Pecos River at damsite 3 near Ca.rlsbad. 6 Lake Avalon near Ca.rlsbad_ 7 Pecos River below Avalon Dom. 8 Peoos River at Carlsbad..__ 9 Last Chance Canyon tributary near Carlsbad Canyon. 10 Mosley Canyon near White City. 11 CassDrawnea.rCarlsbscL__ 12 Elbow Canyon near Carlsbad. 13 Black River above Malaga__ 14 Pecos River near Malaga.. __ 15 Pecos River at Pierce Canyon Crossing near 16 p~..Kt;'er at. Red BlufL. 17 Delaware River near Red Bluff. (2) ____Hm. 316,100 __.h__u_ o __,__uu_ 30,000 ____.hn_ 26,500 20 63,300 uu_hn_ 9,700 5 (1) _~________ 9,760__________ 7,450 4 53,000__________ 21,700 7 611,000 uuHh__ 64,970 uUhUu 341,000 _nuu_u 310,600 4 (') 19.0 13.95 35.1 1&55 '24.8 15.06 28,' 19.06 27.0 7,28 89,900 4 439 ;'Hh_____ <30 ___hh___ 2,850 __U...h. 16,400 '1.5 32,500 83.8 6,410 I L4 33,OOOuu______ 18,400 9 63,700 ___u_____ 12,900 5 (') 39,860 4 52,600 _.._______ 16,800 8 81,400 ______uh 2,710 2 Period Year 16,990 1904__00___ 1904 (1) 1940,1947- 1954 (I) "- _hn_________u____ 30 ___uu_u 1941-65--.. 1954 ____.hm 22.8 u____________Oh___ 30 21.8 1916-65____ 1954 ______m_ '56.8 _____n___m..u___ 30 45.07 1941-6500__ 1954 mun___ 22.0 1964-65____ 1964 u.m____ 13.40 ____uuunu______ 30 11.70 1940,1945- 1954 Oh___uu 18.53 65. _________O.h_______ 30 14.33 1939-65___ 1941 _____.____ S25.0 .h~u_nu___.hn_ 31 ~20.4O 1952-6500__ 19M ______un 23.3 -i9Q4.:06;u---iOO4--_ 31 ,~: 1915, 1921-65. 220 254 285 17,980 18,070 18,080 18,100 .2 -i95H5::::.-i900u__ 31 /lkg ____uuu_hu.____ ..nao- 1.37 14.6 1959-65m_ 1960 __________ 6.67 9.3 :::::::::::::::::::: ~g nu~~::_. 2.4 _...._____n___.h__ 30_....._00. 343 19,190 19,260 1908-65____ 1941 ___00_____ _..__hunn____n_ 30 1921-65____ 1941 _______m _h_n__n_n_.__n_ 31 1939-41, 1941 ~nun___ 1952-65. _un_______u____._ 31 1938-65__._ 19U ________u ____uun...hnu_ 30 1911-65____ 19.s5 __________ _un_u____..._____ 30 19,540 689 1 Unknown. 2 May have reached 60,000 cis. 3 Flow controlled wholly or in part by one or more reservoirs. 'At different site or datum. ~ Elevation, in feet. o Contents, in acre-feet. 1 PrObably exceeded 90,000 cis. a Ratio of peak discharge to 5O-year 1100d. The peak discharge at Mosley Canyon (sta, 10) was 1.5 times that for a 50-year flood. The floodwater of Mosley Canyon combined with l'unoff from Last Chance CanYGn and Little McKittrick and Hack- berry Draws caused moderate flooding, but little damage, to the south- ern part of Carlsbad. The peak discharge on Black River near Malaga (sta. 13) was the third highest since 1908, but only minor damage was reported. Flood- ing along the Delaware River, on the south edge of the flood area, was insignificant. Although extremely high discharges occurred on some tributary streams, flooding in the Pecos River was moderate. nr S~Y OF FLOODS E37 The contents of Lake Avalon, which had been reduced to 1,280 acre- feet on May 30, began to increase during the evening, More than one- haIf of the runoff that originated above Lake Avalon (fig. 17, sta, 5) was retained in the lake Or lost to bank storage, Water began flowing over the spillway at midnight on May 30 (fig, 17, sta, 7 and 8). Flood peaks of tributaries below Carlsbad had entered the main stem before the flow from Lake Avalon was added to the floodwater, Two peaks of about equal magnitude occurred on Pecos River near Malaga (fig. 17, sta.14). The first peak (12,000 cfs) from runoff from the Black River reached the station at midnight on May 30. The sec- ond peak (12,900 cfs) from runoff from Cass Draw, Dark Canyon, and intervening drainage areas reached the station at 0630 hours on May 31. Release from Lake Avalon extended the recession time of the second creet. When the flow reached Pierce 'Canyon Crossing (fig. 17, sta. 15), the two peaks had. merged into one with a peak discharge of 9,860 cfs. The peak was reduced further, to 8,820 cis wt Red Bluff (fig, 17, sta, 16), at 2110 hours on May 31. The Pecos River at Red Bluff (sta, 16) had a peakd&.harge (16,800 cis) on May 30 that was almost twice as great 'as that on May 31. The' peak on May 30 was mostly from direct runoff from an area of 280 sq mi of which about two-thirds was in the hasin of Red Bluff Draw, Red Bluff Draw contributed a large volume of flow to the Pecos River. During the period May 3O-June 3, 17,000 acre. feet of water passed the Pierce Canyon Crossing gage (sta, 15), and 25,000 acre- feet passed the Red Bluff gage (sta. 16), which is about 14 miles farther downstream, Inflow from the Delaware River, a tributary below Red Bluff was small, and the peak discharge reached the PecGS River about 2 hours earlier than the peaks that originated above Red Bluff. Although the magnitude of the flood on the Pecos River was not that of a rare flood, it was unusual because most of the flow origi- nated from relatively'small areas, Most of the flow above Lake Avalon came from the South Seven Rivers basin, The intensity of tributary flows below Carlsbad is illustrated by the high peak discharges from three small basins-Mosley Canyon (sta.10), Cass Draw (sta.11), and Elbow Canyon (sta. 12). The peak discharge of each ofthe three sites exceeded that for a 50-year flood. Information on flood damage, which was mostly to agricultural lands and crops, was obtained from the Soil Conservation Service and from the Carlsbad Current-Argus newspaper. Damage along tributary streams west of the Pecos River from the South Seven Rivers to the