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<br />Pueblo Flood H tJZIlrd Miti"aI;on Pion <br /> <br />Stmctural <br />Mitigation <br />'"if!. <br /> <br />and Non-stmctural <br /> <br />Many homes subjeet to oceasional flooding <br />in Pueblo have employed some structural <br />mitigative measures such as eon crete <br />floodwalls, drainage improvements, high <br />window-well walls, and elevation of <br />property, These simple measures saved many <br />homes, One home in the south side <br />neighborhood sustained no damage, while <br />every one of its neighbors had heavy <br />damage, This house was elevated just high <br />enough to keep the floodwaters out. <br /> <br />Non-structural mitigative measures can prove <br />more effective than structural measures, <br />Examples of non structural mitigation include <br />emergency preparedness, public education <br />and awareness, flood insuranee, wise land <br />use planning and zoning, It is important to <br />note that a mere 5 or 6 acres, oceupied <br />primarily by single family dwellings, still <br />remain in the city's flood plain, The Pueblo <br />Dam and the Arkansas levee system <br />eliminated at least 90% of the existing flood <br />plain, The NFIP attempts to divert growth in <br />floodway and flood-risk areas by flood plam <br />ordinanees whieh participating eommunities <br />must adopt and enforce, Communities have <br />been suspended from the regular program in <br />Colorado for not enforcing adopted flood <br />plain ordinances, Eliminating all new <br />development in the floodway ean be more <br />effeetive in reducing risk than consistently <br />relying on ealculating effective structural <br />measures with appropriate eap acities for <br />floods of different recurrence intervals. <br /> <br />The City of Pueblo Publie Works <br />Department is also working on strueturally <br />mitigating for future floods of this nature on <br />Lake Minnequa, Currently Lake Minnequa <br />(owned by CF & I) restricts operating lake <br /> <br />levels to six tenths of a foot below the high <br />water mark to allow for flood peak storage <br />capacity during high risk times (May to <br />September). City Publie Works and CF & I <br />have agreed to lower the lake level 2.4 feet <br />below the high water mark This outlet <br />modifieation will allow for additional flood <br />storage before runoff will flow through the <br />outlet structure into the storm sewer system, <br /> <br />Pueblo County Public Works is also <br />eurrently working on ways to strueturally <br />mitigate for future storms of this nature, <br />Even before this flood they were working on <br />a drainage basin study for the St. Charles <br />Mesa, This area is flat and diffieult to drain, <br />It receives minor flooding eonsistently and <br />reeeived minor flooding during this storm. <br />The proposal for this plan will be given to <br />Pueblo County in August of 1994 for <br />approval, It includes a 5 year flood capaeity <br />in most places (more or less in areas needing <br />modified eapaeities). <br /> <br />'Structural and non -structural mitigation <br />techniques have been used and more are <br />being planned, Pueblo Dam, the Arkansas <br />River levee system and the Fountain Creek <br />Flood Control Project all help mitigate <br />against flooding in the city of Pueblo, <br />However, eurrently there does not seem to <br />be a great deal of coordinated planning for <br />the Arkansas River downstream from Pueblo, , <br />with one exception, An agreement exists <br />with Pueblo Dam to attempt to eontrol the <br />waterflow so that the Arkansas River at the <br />A vondale gauge does not exceed 6,000 cfs, <br />Incidentally, the Avondale area and <br />espeeially Boone did reeeive flooding from <br />the high river flows from the Arkansas River <br />and its Pueblo area tributaries, <br /> <br />20 <br />