FLOOD04800

• County: El Paso
• Community: Colorado Springs
• Stream Name: Cottonwood Creek
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Engineering Study of Cottonwood Creek Drainage Basin
• Date: 8/7/1979
• Prepared For: Colorado Springs
• Prepared By: Lincoln Devore
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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the City of Colorado Springs, Its location and topography prevent

it from being classified as a plains type basin, In this inter-

mediate position, rainfall and runoff patterns fit the Type II A

storm well, In addition,' the upper half of the basin lies under

the historic "storm line" east of the mountains. Heavy rainfall

in this area is common,

The soils within the basin are pri-

marily sandy, allowing relatively high infiltration rates. Areas

of clays and sandstones with low infiltration rates exist, but are

more prominent in the southern portion of the basin. Bed and bank

storage is relatively high due to the type of soil and the grades

typical along the major streams.

The topography of the basin is steep
and rough in the upper portions and more rolling in the west, The

upper basin is relatively narrow, with relatively steep side drain-

age to the creek. The lower (western) portion of the basin is

also relatively narrow but the side drainage is less steep, The

western, more closely studied area can only be described as a series

of low, rolling hills with relatively narrow valleys between. These

valleys are commonly quite swampy as a result of the confined

drainage system and of the soil strata.

Development in the studied portion

of the basin has not changed the overall direction of drainage

flow in any significant way. Some culverts have acted to change

th~ direction of street flows at specific points, but this is rela-

tively minor, The hills around the major streams are sufficiently

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