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<br />THE ESTES PARK FLOOD
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<br />was focus of frequent complaints"
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<br />f . . .
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<br />neer, said the report "didn'tlind-flroblems
<br />with lhedam; it found suspected problems
<br />with the dam when the reservoir Is full."
<br />~"~Simpson added that his inspeetors ha~
<br />written much more cntical ",porls on oth-
<br />er dams in the state. In fact, he said,
<br />. suspected problems with the Lawn Lake
<br />dam were not deemed critical enough to
<br />even Inform the owners that-improve-
<br />ments would be needed
<br />During an averag"e year, he said, more
<br />Uhan IOO.dams in the sl.llte are found to
<br />have problems serious enough to order the
<br />owners to improve them, or ta restrict
<br />their water capacity.
<br />.., The problems generally relate to seep-
<br />. age'or rodents burrOWIng in the dams.
<br />Few dams are cited lor structural prob-
<br />lems, he said. .
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<br />, IRONICALI.Y, SI~IPSON SAID he
<br />would have sought a lollowup inspection 01
<br />the Lawn Lake dam, but was prevenled
<br />because his department was helping the
<br />~'Army Corps of Engineers catalog "high-
<br />M.urd"damsinlhest.ate.
<br />"ldea\ly, there !ot\ould have been a 101.
<br />WOOf, inspedion (of the Lawn Lake dam)
<br />the ollowlng year:' he said. "But we
<br />'didn.t because of the lack of manpower."
<br />''h/~ According to records In the State Engl-
<br />"fleer's offlce, Glepn Prosser, then i'ublish-
<br />'er of lhe Estes Park Trail, had wntten to
<br />Iheenglneer in 1951 about "the fears from
<br />'Lawn Lake to the mouth of the Big
<br />(-Thompson River about whether Lawn
<br />Lake is entirely safe."
<br />An inspection conducted a year prior to
<br />,the leUerdeslgnated the dam as "Okay."
<br />., Another inspection conducted two weeks
<br />. after the letter was written noted that
<br />, water in the reservoir was within about 3
<br />'.leetof the top of the dam, and that "this
<br />difference is much 100 small for the ade--
<br />quatI' salety 01 the dam."
<br />The Army Corps of Engineers conducted
<br />. the study of "high.haz.ilrd" dams across the
<br />country from 1977 to 1981.
<br />Yel. when the Corps drew up its list of
<br />'''unsafe'' dams in the state, the Lawn Lake
<br />dam was not on the Ii~t. As a result of the
<br />study, the dam was designated a "moder-
<br />ate.haurd" d..m - that is a dam that
<br />. could cause significant property damage,
<br />but would be unlikely to kill anyone.
<br />COLORADO liAS 219 "hlgh.hazard"
<br />dams':- dams whose lallure would proba-
<br />blyresultinlossesoflifeiflheyburst.Of
<br />'those, 26 were deemed "unsafe" because
<br />they have an insufficient spillway capacity
<br />" to handle the I\lalUmUm possIble deluge
<br />"....Tt'ecO!.lo{ (ep:l>,nnlr,ln".tate'.unsal"
<br />';'~l~_",s...,:-~n .est;ma{ed..e!,arOllnd $3~,
<br />Simpson Said his. department does not
<br />have the manpower \0 annually inspect all
<br />. the 2,250 d<lffis for which state law man-
<br />dates annual inspectionS.
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<br />Hlw~ ....olO.V It".. ............."0
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<br />;1864 fl.oodalmost.:'wlped out Denver
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<br />By FRANCES MELROSE
<br />N.w,$I.o1f
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<br />';,'
<br />Colorado in the last ct'ntury has suffered a nUlllber of
<br />. floods.
<br />.. The nrst flood to make history in Denver almOst wiped
<br />'out the mfant city on the mght of May 19,1864.
<br />Despite the warnings of Indians and plainsmen, settlers,
<br />. who came In on the wings of the gold rush, built their city
<br />:.along the edge 01 Cherry Creek. The creek had such a tiny
<br />trickle 01 water that settlers regarded Ita~adrystream.'
<br />Jo'or a week before that fIrst flood, rains had fallen
<br />sleadily over the headwaters of Cherry Cn-ek. Just alter
<br />midnight on May 19, 1864, the swollen stream eame
<br />racing toward the town, It hit the Larimer Street Bridge
<br />and the large Methodist churCh and adjoining buildings,
<br />learingthemfromtheirfoundations.. .
<br />00 June 3,1921, hUlldreds of lives were lost - noelllct
<br />figure ever has been determined - in a flood ill Pueblo. It
<br />is considered olleol the state's worst trilge4ies. . .... ,....
<br />.... ~ ~prl! t"'l.I ,6.~l!.Jl~\I~.l":e!:~..~ez.~~l?yed. Three hundred
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<br />other dwellings and business buildings suffered such dam, channel 01 Cherry Creek. Two persons died in the flood,
<br />. age they were condemned. In the railrpad. yards, two and property damage was estifrnlted in l'J:cess 01 $I
<br />passenger trains: were half buried In mud. Only two of 12 million in those depression days.
<br />bridges were left standing. The highwater mark on some The subst'quent building of the Cherry Crl'l'k and Chal-
<br />buildings downtowlI reached 14 feet. field Dams has presumably overcome the problems of
<br />Pro~rty loss because of .the Pueblo flood was put at Oenver f100dmg, . '
<br />$16 mllhon. But these dams did not come along in time to prevent a
<br />While Denver was in the clutches 01 the Depression, it devastating flood in 196:> that struck 20 counties. includ.
<br />also suffered one of the worst floods In ils history when ing Denver. Twenty~five people were killed, and property
<br />Cherry Creek's Castlewood Dam broke ill lhe early morn- damage was estimated at more than $:>00 million. .
<br />ing of Aug. 3,"1933 The flood was brought on by a cloudburst that dumprd
<br />Castlewdod Dam, which had been built In 1889 for the 15 inches of wllter on mountalll slopes southwest of Ikll-
<br />Denver Land and Water Co., was situated in a narrow ver.
<br />stretcb of Wildcat Canyon. It was 50 feet high and 600 feet Anothl'r disastrous flood, the last before the Big Thomp-
<br />,long. Heavy rains preceded the disaster by several days. son tragedy, sfruck Colorado on May 6, 1973. An e:stilnat-
<br />The dam break poured 5,000 acre-feet of water into ell U millioll damage was ca\l!ied in the Denver area.'
<br />Wildcat Canyon. Spreading out from the canyon, the flood In 1973, rain and snow in the foothills sent the South
<br />path sometimes was a mill' wide on t'ach'side of the creek, Plalte on its worst rampage sinct' the 196:> flood. More
<br />Ilomesand barns were crumpled and huge trees along _ than 3,500 persons were forced to flee their homes in
<br />wilh cattle w~re.carrie.dal~mg 9n tp~.lorrent. . -.. .. '>-Denver.and Douglas Counties. and north tQ the .Nebraska
<br />W~'i,tJ;C{.rs}.'f,.H.l~\ high a". thr,,:'i~t~t~~W~e~Jl~:t;.JlJ1r~.~'I)~ '. ..,.. '..... .'.. : ';:.;, :,.~~ "'. .:~).;:~,
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