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<br />for floodplain management and for flood insurance rates. These events, <br />commonly termed the 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year floods, have a 10-, 2-, <br />1-, and 0.2-percent chance, respectively, of being equaled or exceeded <br />during any year. Although the recurrence interval represents the long- <br />term averaRe period between floods of a specific magnitude, rare floods <br />could occur at short intervals or even within the same year. The risk <br />of experiencing a rare flood increases when periods greater than one <br />year are considered. For example, the risk of having a flood which <br />equals or exceeds the 100-year flood (I percent chance of annual <br />exceedence) in any 50-year period is approximately 40 percent (4 in 10), <br />and, for any 90-year period, the risk increases to approximately <br />60 percent (6 in 10). The analyses reported herein reflect flooding <br />potentials based on conditions existing in the community at the time of <br />completion of this Flood Insurance Study. Maps and flood elevations <br />will be amended periodically to reflect future changes. <br /> <br />3.1 Hydrologic Analyses <br /> <br />Hydrologic analyses were carried out to establish the peak <br />discharge-frequency relationships for each flooding source studied <br />by detailed methods affecting the community. <br /> <br />Peak discharges for the various recurrence intervals for Tomichi <br />Creek and the Gunnison River were taken from data prepared by <br />Engineering Consultants, Iuc. for the Gunnison River Basin near <br />Gunnison, Colorado (Reference 2). Streamflow data obtained from <br />51 measuring stations located within the Gunnison River Basin and <br />in nearby basins were used in this analysis. The source of the <br />data is the official U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Supply <br />Papers (Reference 4). The peak flow figures for the four <br />different frequencies used in the analysis of the two streams <br />mentioned previously were those obtained from the Regional Log- <br />Pearson Type III Analyses (Reference 5). <br /> <br />Peak discharges for the various recurrence intervals for North <br />Fork Gunnison River were taken from data prepared by the COE, <br />Sacramento District. A flow-frequency analysis was made for four <br />index points on the North Fork Gunnison River, with the upstream <br />gaging station being the USGS gaging station near Somerset (Hydro- <br />logic Unit 14020004; period of record: 1897 to 1933, 1934 to <br />present day), and downstream points that reflect significant <br />inflow. The source of the gaging data was the official USGS Water <br />Supply Papers (Reference 4). <br /> <br />Flow-frequency curves were developed from generalized frequency <br />relationships estimated from a regional-frequency analysis of <br />gaging stations, North Fork Gunnison River near Paonia gage <br />(period of record: 1922-1932); Gunnison River below Gunnison <br />Tunnel gage (Hydrologic Uni t 14020002; period of record: 1903 to <br />present day); and Gunnison River near Grand Junction gage (Hydro- <br /> <br />7 <br />