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<br />HISTORY Or FLOODING
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<br />2~ days. flows grea(~r than 1,500 and 2,000 cub ic feet ~er second
<br />'~ere cont ;nuou. for per iods of 16 days and 3 days, respect i vcly. As
<br />rney be juOged from the foregoing. and,il.previouslystated, the 1917
<br />and 191d floods were very similar inmegnitude, differingprincip ally
<br />lntn,,;, in,tantancouspeakflows. Newspaper account" of the 1918
<br />flood, ,how that numerouS brl<Jg," In Imd around Aspen were destroyed
<br />or ",riously damaged, and Ihat, due to destruction of streamcro.5ing.
<br />!nOther I",calities, the town waS cut offcxcept for the ral1roJd. At
<br />the peak of the flood, bridges still Handing had 2 or more fcet of
<br />.wiftlyflowingwaterovcrthedecking. A pipeline carrying Hunter
<br />Creek .."ter u) the town was ""shed out and the community had to gct
<br />along or> ~bout one-ha I f norma 1 supp Iy for ~Imose 2 months. For a time,
<br />floodwaters threatened destruction of ehe Case1e Creek water nain and
<br />tota I loss of mun icipal water supp Iy. '~reckage of destroyed bri dges
<br />ludged against and threatened deseructlon of other bridges, and great
<br />effort was expended in floodfighting tosafeg""rd the structures
<br />threatened. In Aspen, the east end of Main Street waS undermined and
<br />washed away. Co""""rcial Hructures In Chis are<lwere threatened, and
<br />homes in low-lying areas were surrounded by floodwater. However, little
<br />residential damage occurred except for lawns and gardens, many of which
<br />were destroyed by erosion and deposition of debris. In 1957,brldges,
<br />roads, and adjacent pa5turelandswerc damagcd. InAspen,theSlaughter-
<br />house {Red Butte Road) BricgeandHospleJIBrldgewereamongthosemost
<br />severel y d~m<lged in PI tkin County. E,..,rgency construct Ion e"ams worked
<br />contlnously to keep ro.lds open anG it was neceH~ry to detour traHi".
<br />In on" case, an old unu,cd roadway wa, temporarily re,tored bccause
<br />,he regular route '..as expeCted to be impa",ab Ie lo~g after floodwiltcrs
<br />subsided."
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<br />The history of flooding in the Roaring Fork River Is described in the
<br />following excerpt from the Flood Pia in Information report for AspcrI,
<br />C"lorackl prepar"d by tneU.S. ArOlyCorpsofEngin"ers In Jllf1eof 1973.
<br />(ReferenceS)
<br />"SUMHARYOFHISTORICAL,LOODS
<br />Aspen is kn'Mn to have a long history of flood" the earliest of
<br />record occurring in 1880--1 year after the citywa,eHabli,ned. Large
<br />floods a 1'0 oCCurred in 1!i8~, 191", 1915, 1917, 1918, 1921, and 1957.
<br />In general, the flood that occurred ir>June-July 1917 is considered
<br />ehe most 'evere known in the Aspen area. During that flood, the Roar-
<br />ing Fork Rlyer had iln instantaneaus peak flow of 3,170 cubic feet per
<br />second. Major early-su""""r snowmelt floods abo occurred in the A'PM
<br />area In 1918 and 1921 when instantar>eouspeak flows reached 2,360 and
<br />2,310 cubic feet per second, reopectively. In general, thcl917and
<br />1918floodswcreveryslmilar inmilgnitude. Themo,trecent flood
<br />occurred in June and July 1957. Flow during that flood crested at
<br />1,910 cubic ;""t per second on 29 June. So~ flooding occurred In
<br />June 1971 "hen flow in the Roaring Fork creqed at 1,020 cubic feet
<br />p"r s"cond,but damagewa, minor. Record,availablc for Castle Creek
<br />Snow flows of 890 and 1,090 cubic feet per second, respectively, in
<br />1917 and 1918. ,low records for HLmter Creek during ,.".jor flood period,
<br />are not available.
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<br />FLOOD RECORDS
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<br />Informationontheearlierhl'torical floodsth<lthay"occurred
<br />In the study ~rea Is very I imi ted bec"us"" ~t re"mflow records were nat
<br />b"in~ made, ~y..-witn"ss ,>ccounts are not now av~llabl~. ,md (;"I>tempoc-
<br />ary records ace pr~ct lca Ily flone,xl stf'nt. Sl"'ci fl, informat ion on more
<br />re"'nt flood~. except for streJmflow data, ; s a Iso very i Imited b~cause
<br />Aspen had a very ,mall popul~tlon and wa, largely undeveloped at the
<br />timcmajorflood,occurrcd. Newsaccountsofcarlyfloods<Jrcnor>_
<br />existent or ',,,ry urodetal l~d, and do not Covcr flood Ing In rur~1 dred'
<br />where flooding was often more extenslye than in Aspen. Ingcneral
<br />infocmat ion on ~a~t floods is based on newspaper ~ccaunts, interYI~w:;
<br />with longtimc residents of th",,,red,..,,,d flow data published inlJ.S.
<br />G~ological Survey water supply pa~ers.
<br />FLOOD OF~r.RI PI IONS
<br />\.II eh the excepl iv" of Ilow dal~ for tM" Roar ing Fork R iver ~t
<br />A'pen, I i It ie Is known about the flood of June'J~ly 1917. 5t reamfl"w
<br />records show that flows greater eh"n 1,000 cubic feet per second con-
<br />tinued for a period of 28 days, and flows of dbout 2,000 ~ublc feet
<br />per ~econd '.-JC re cont i n uous for $ d"ys. F lows ~reater tMan 1,500 cub i c
<br />feet ppr second continuec for a periOd of 1(, ddn. During the 1~la
<br />flooo, flows greater ehdn 1,000 cub ic feet p~r second cone i nued for
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