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!l)\CKGROUNOI~ORMATION has contin~ed to grow with a pr~sent metropolitan population estimated at 118,2J8 from n.e 1970 census. In the 1970's the C1ty has becoll1e the site for the U.s. Bureau af DOcuments' Western I\.utomated Dis- Pueblo, the county seat of Pueblo County in south. triblltionCenter Ithesalesanddistribut1anarmoftheO.S.Govern- ment Printing Office) and for the Department of Transportations' High Speed Ground Transportation Test Conter. Settlement central Colorado, i.locatedatth"confluenceofthel\..kansasRiver, Fountain Creek and Salt C.ee~. Economic development in the area began in 1762 when French fur trappers erected a small trading post on the east bank of Fountain Creek. Inl806,ZebulonPikeconstructcd a crude building that was the first to be inhabited by Americans. "Port Pueblo" was built in thc years l8~O - 1843. A winter camp was established by gold prospectors in 1858 <Uld over thirty cabins were constructed using materials from the original old Fort Pueblo. The gold discoveries of 1859 drew thou$ands of new settlers, many of whom sent for their familie$. .n 1861 the Colorado Territory was created and Pueblo County was one of th~ original seventeen counties included in the territory. In 1870, five hundred pioneers incorporated the town ana schools and newspapers were established. In 1872 the Denver and Bio Grande Western Railroad began serving the City followed within fifteen years by three other major railroad lines. During this period the town developed into a thriving agricultural, business, and indus- trial center. In 1879 Pueblo's strategic location won for it the selection dS the site of the first western steel mill when CF & I Steel eorporation wss founded. Availability of fuel and mineral deposits supported i I , I I , I I , The Salt Creek Watershed Salt Creek is a right bank tributary to the Arkansas River with the confluence being located in the southeast corner of the City of Pueblo. Salt Creek is one of several flood prone tributaries which flow into the Arkansas River between Canon City and Pueblo. The Salt Creek aasin is adjacent to the Goodnight ^rroye sasin to the north- west and to the St. CharlesR1veraasin to the southeast. The salt Creek watershed contains 37.~ square miles. The headwaters originate in the foothills about eight miles south and ten miles west of the City. The Salt creek basin is minor in regard to size but is important to the City of PUeblo in that it flows throuqh th~ residential and major industrial areas of southeast Pueblo. The stream is approximately ~ighteen miles long and may be considered to be intermittent in the upper five miles of the basin. At its confluence with the St. Charles River FlOod Ditch at mile 13.4 it receives a maximum flow of about 6JS Cubic feet per second (cfs) diverted from the St. Charles River. This flow is for irrigation pur- poses and provides a base flow in Salt Creek during the spring and summer months. The report study area is limited. to the:reachdo>mstream from the St. Charles Flood Ditch to the Arkansas Rivet. Three miles do>mstream from the flood ditch, the creek flo~s into the first of two major reservoirs along its course. The upstream reservoir is called St. Charles Reservoir No.3, and immediately downstream is St. Charles Reservoir NO.~. The reservoirs are SO constructed that flows Over the Reservoir NO. 3 spillway flow qenerally diverse mining operations and associated commeroe and industry. Agrioultural and related food. processing industries dominated econol:lic develop:nent from the beginning6f the 20thoenturyundl World War II. F~onomic development during and since World War II has been characterized by steady growth in tne manufacturing sector, continuance of military activities at the Pueblo Ordinance Depot, and expansion of supporting mercantile and service industries. Pueblo was named an "All American City" in 19$4 and , ,