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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />drowned and many other injured. <br /> <br />The potential flooding hazard at Bayfield and Ignacio is controlled <br />by the discharge from Vallecito Reservoir, 11 miles upstream'of Bay- <br />field. In July, 1957, heavy rains in the mountains to the north <br />filled the Vallecito Reservoir to its ultimate capacity. The three <br />flood gates all opened at once releasing a surge of water, about <br />13,000 cfs. The river stage at Bayfield reached the top of the <br />Highway 160 bridge. The high water caused basement flooding and <br />agricultural loss. Other major flooding in the Bayfield and Ignacio <br />area occurred in October, 1911 and July; 1927. In 1911 the Los <br />Pinos River inundated the land along the river at Bayfield for <br />nearly a week. One house was washed away, while the water reach- <br />ed a depth of 3-1/2 to 4 feet at the fair grounds. Residents <br />reported that the 1927 flood stage was about equal to the 1911 <br />flood. In September, 1901, flooding was reported in the San Juan <br />Drainage Basin, however, the Los pinos River did not overflow <br />its banks. <br /> <br />Flooding history of the small communities in the San Juan River <br /> <br />Basin is rather sketchy due to lack of gauging stations. History <br /> <br />shows that the San Juan River Basin is rarely subject to major <br /> <br />flooding because the heavy snow cover runoff from the San Juan <br /> <br />Mountains keeps the rivers scoured to the required capacity. New <br /> <br />communities such as the Upper Vallecito Resort Development are <br /> <br />subject to cloudburst type floods. Short duration heavy rainfall <br /> <br />on steep gradient mountains streams causes very destructive flooding <br /> <br />-9- <br />