FLOOD05954

• County: Eagle
• Community: Beaver Creek
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Title: FloodPlain Management Workshop Beaver Creek September 21-23, 1983
• Date: 9/21/1983
• Prepared For: Beaver Creek
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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interior of lobbies and hallways. This particular proviso applies
to structures that were in p l.ace before the ri gorous exc 1 us i onary
zoning which went into effect in 1971 and 1978. It is also
prohibited for any conmercial, industrial, or residential dwellings
to be placed in the flood plain, and the majority of this flood
plain zone has been set aside as a pedestrian hiking area, bicycle
path, or nature study areas. The most recent acquisition by the
City of Boulder is a large 300 acre parcel entitled, "The Cottonwood
Grove", which is closed off to the public for the time being while
wildlife and vegetative analysis take place to determine the
condition of the site and the possibility for future public access
and other pedestrian thoroughfare activities either through or near
that flood plain acquisition. It is safe to say that open space,
park and recreation facilities, and natural habitat are the major
land use designations of Boulder's high hazard flood zone. There
are, nevertheless, some problems in determining the true range of
safety considering the costs of providing that safety. There is a
continuing debate on whether or not the City should try to insure
for the flood of larger magnitude, which we know from the geologic
record, is certainly possible for a setting such as Boulder,
Colorado. Through measurement techniques of boulders in the stream
bed, we are led to believe that within geologic record. floods have
come through the present site of Boulder at the magnitude of 32,000
to 33,000 cubic feet per second. That would approximately be
equivalent to the same flood intensity of the Big Thompson Canyon
disaster of 1976.

It is with some degree of embarrassment that several public
structures do sit in the midst of the flood plain of Boulder Creek.
The Boulder Public Library, in fact, straddles Boulder Creek. The
City Hall or Municipal Building and City Office Annex are all in
the 100 year flood plain. Certain downtown streets have been used
as designated channels to carry excess capacity in time of major
flood, and several years ago the City of Boulder made a conscious
decision to maintain the natural or native vegetation and habitat of
the stream channel as opposed to any channel i zat i on or structural
modifications that. were one of the alternatives of a corp of
engineers' study. Other flood plain zones within the City of
Boulder, which include tributary streams of Sunshine Canyon, Goose
Creek, Skunk Creek, Bear Creek, and South Boulder Creek, are under
scrutiny for additional open space acquisition.

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In summary, it would be accurate to say that through the use of the
sales tax millage for open space acquisition, through the
designation of park and open space, and only as the condition arises
-- the land acquisition of private property, have been major tools
of land use policy for flood plain management. It is my judgment
that condemnation for flood plain protection is not an appropriate
step at this point since we are so close to our goal of essentially
total flood plain parkways throughout the entire length of the City
of Boulder. What progress we have made has been attributed
primarily to the educational efforts mounted by the City, and by
environmental groups in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce,
and the design professionals in the cor1l1lUnity who realize that the