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<br />MANUAL FOR ESTIMATING FLOOD CHARACTERISTICS <br /> <br />41 <br /> <br />Northern Plateau Region <br /> <br />The Northern Plateau Region comprises the area of northwestern Colorado <br />within the White River and Yampa River basins below an elevation of 7,500 ft <br />(Fig. 2). Much of the area is dissected by virtually parallel streilClS with <br />narrow uncut plateaus between. The annual precipitation ranges fron about <br />10 inches at lower elevations to about 20 inches at an elevation of 7,500 ft, <br />of which approximately 60 percent occurs as snowfall from October through <br />Apri 1. Summer thunderstorms produce high-intensity rainfall in the region, <br />but are usually 1 imited in areal extent. Floods are primarily caused by <br />snowmelt runoff from April through June. <br /> <br />Records for 21 gaging stations were used to derive the regression <br />equations for the Northern Plateau Region. Most of the gaging stations are <br />located at higher elevations along the eastern and southern edge of the re- <br />gion or on larger streams at lower elevations. The smaller drainage basins <br />at lower elevations have not been adequately measured to provide reliable <br />estimates of flood characteristics; thus, the appl icabil ity of the ,"egression <br />equations to these sites is untested and unknown. Supplemental flood infor- <br />mation, where available, needs to be used for deriving flood characteristics <br />for these streams. <br /> <br />The regression equations relating flood characteristics to basin param- <br />eters for the Northern Plateau Region are listed in table 3 with the standard <br />error of estimate for each equation. The equations for the 100-year flood <br />discharge and depth are depicted graphically in figures 7 and 8, respectively. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />J <br />