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

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STUDY AREA DESCRIPl'ION

'lbe Town of Parachute is located in Section 12, Township 7 South, Range 95
West of the 6th Principal Meridian. It is 40 miles to the west on Glenwood
Springs in western Garfield County, Colorado. 'lbe town lies on the north bank
of the Colorado River and straddles Parachute Creek at its confluence with the
Colorado River, see the Regional IDeation Map, Figure 1.

with an average elevation of 5,090 feet above rean sea level (MSL), the
town's climate is semi-arid. Some 14 to 16 inches of rainfall occur annually
with the majority of precipitation falling in the form of rain in the months of
April to October.

The Parachute Creek basin is approximately 200 square miles in area and
rises on the Roan Plateau north of the Town. The basin's headwaters are near
8,800 feet MSL in elevation where the annual precipitation is approximately 20
to 25 inches. In the higher elevations, most of the precipitation occurs as
snow during the months of October through April.

Soils in the basin include Mollisols at the higher elevations and Aridisols
and Entisols in the lower parts. Fluvents are predominant in and adjacent to
stream channels. Geologic formations include the Wasatch and the Tertiary Green
River which contains oil shale deposits.

Vegetation indiginous to the basin includes conifer and aspen forests at
the higher elevations and juniper, pinon and sagebrush stands at lower
elevations. Stream banks are lined with stands of willows and cottonwoods.
There are irrigated pasturelands in the Parachute Creek valley north of town.

Study Reach Descriptions:

The reach of Parachute Creek included in this study extends from the
Colorado River to the northern town limits, a distance of approximately 1.4
stream miles. The natural stream bed is fairly stable and slopes at an average

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