FLOOD05252

• Designation Number: 303
• County: Garfield
• Community: Parachute
• Stream Name: Parachute Creek and Colorado River
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Title: Floodplain Information Report - Parachute Creek and Colorado River
• Date: 10/1/1989
• Designation Date: 1/1/1990
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

0.7%. 'l'ne banks are lined with cottonwood trees and thick stands of willows and
other brush, but the main channel is fairly uniform and free from natural
obstructions.

Within the town, Parachute Creek is confined in a channel which has. been
altered by human activities through the years. There are five bridges in the
study reach of Parachute Creek: County Road, the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG)
Railroad, two bridges for Interstate Highway 70, and a bridge for U.S. Highway
6. None of the bridges has piers.

Between the Colorado River and the D&RG Railroad, the channel Il'eanders
through agricultural and industrial tracts which have some residential areas
interspersed. Between the railroad and the westbound lanes of Interstate
Highway 70 (1-70), the channel is straight and relatively deep. The railroad
bridge constitutes the primary potential obstruction to flood flows in this
reach.

Upstream of 1-70, the channel is confined between residential areas and a
cOl11ll'ercial strip along U. S. Highway 6. The stream was channelized as the town
grew up on its banks. Within this reach the U. S. Highway 6 bridge is the llOst
significant hydraulic obstruction. Overflow of the creek from a SOO-year flood
would subject the main business sector of town to floodwaters which can only be
directed back to the main channel by the highway and railroad embankll'ents.
Water which flows over the railroad embankment will not re-enter Parachute Creek
but will flow in a southerly direction to the Colorado River.

The Colorado River is a braided river subject to flood flows of relatively
long duration and large volume resulting from melting snow. The study reach of
the Colorado River within the Town is approximately 2 stream miles in length and
slopes at an average 0.19 percent. The floodplain meanders along the southern
boundary of the Town and reaches up to about 1/2 mile in width in certain areas.
Portions of the overbank areas are used for gravel mining. The south bank of
the river rises steeply and forms a substantial barrier for flood flows, while
the north bank rises more gently and Subjects portions of the Town to periodic
inundation. There is one bridge over the Colorado River in the study reach,
namely the "K" access road to Battlement Mesa.
6