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front of the flood, at 3:40 p.m. on Monday afternoon, was approxi- mately 13 miles downstream from Prospect Valley Reservoir and one mile upstream from 1-76. A small volume of water that had separated from the main channel flowed east, toward the town of Roggen, Colorado, at low velocity. By sundown, this part of the flood was still about 2 miles west of the town and it had lost most of its momentum. The remainder of the flood was contained in the Lost Creek channel. The cold temperatures on Monday night finally froze the remaining flooded areas. Black and white aerial photographs of the flooded area, taken between 3:40 and 3:45 p.m. on Monday, February 11, 1980, are shown in Appendix A. The outline of the flood was enhanced by the pre- sence of approximately 6 inches of snow on the ground. The scale of the photographs is approximately 1 inch = 600 feet. FLOOD DAMAGES The Lost Creek flood extended a total of 13 miles, and covered approximately 3,000 acres. Along its course, the flood crossed eleven county roads, two railroads, two canals, a state highway, and a natural gas pipeline. It also flowed under one power transmission line. A total of six farmsteads and one oil storage tank were inundated by the flood, as indicated on the aerial photographs. Most of the damage was to the reservoir and ditch system owned by the Henrylyn Irrigation District. Other damages occurred on farm property and from losses in crop revenue. Severe erosion occurred on approximately 2.5 acres on one farmer's property, just below Prospect Valley Reservoir and above Prospect Lateral. On other farms, thick layers of silt were deposited. Topsoil was stripped from the land in the floodplain and deposited in Lord Reservoir. Severe erosion also occurred to the emergency spillway at Lord Reservoir. County roads were closed in seven places, and State Highway 52 was closed for about 24 hours during the flood. The Prospect Lateral was severely breached and the lowline Canal, below Lord Reservoir, also suffered damage. Little or no damage is known to have occurred to the railroad, gas pipeline, or the power transmission line. Except for about a dozen baby pigs that died from exposure during a move to higher ground, no livestock or human lives were lost (or injured) in the flood. No one, including the Henrylyn Irrigation District, is known to have had any flood insurance. A review of requests for disaster assistance received by the U. S. Soil Conservation Service and the Colorado Water Conservation Board has resulted in an estimate of the total flood damages at over a million dollars with the following breakdown: Damage Category Amount Land and Crop Losses $ 250,000 Farm Machinery 150,000 Residential Property 100,000 Prospect Dam Repairs 583,000 Lord Reservoir 47,000 Prospect Lateral Repairs 22,000 TOTAL $ 1,152,000 THE MEDIA The television and newspaper media carried accounts of the flood for several days after the event. Several television sta- tions were able to respond quickly and obtain video tapes during the flood event. A selection of major stories which appeared in the local and regional newspapers are included in Appendix B. These articles illustrate the human side of the flood and include further details on damages and the emergency response of various federal, state, and local agencies. It should be pointed out, however, that during the emergency there was much confusion rela- tive to the technical details as presented in this report. 7