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<br />7 <br /> <br />flooding. Land use changes alter the factors that influence floods. <br /> <br />Especially susceptible to being changed are the amount and type of <br /> <br />vegetation, .soil structure and channel" characteristics. <br /> <br />History of ~loods <br /> <br />The earliest flood in the thesis area for which 'any historic <br /> <br />evidence exists occurred in 1844 when melting snow and rain caused <br /> <br />floods on both the South Plat,te end Cache la Poudre Rivers. The <br /> <br />I <br />II <br />It <br /> <br />" <br />:f <br />II <br />'I <br />II <br />'I <br />I, <br />" <br />'; <br /> <br />1921 flood on the South Platte River resulted from the same cause, <br /> <br />The most severe flood on the South Platte River occurred in 19q5 <br /> <br />and was caused by cloudbursts ,that lasted for several days. Lone <br /> <br />Tree Creek also had its largest flood during these storms, Four <br /> <br />people lost their lives in the largest flood of record on the Big <br /> <br />Thompson River. The flood was caused by a reservoir failure, Cloud- <br /> <br />Table 1 sunnnarizes data on some 'of the major floods which <br /> <br />:1 <br />Ii <br />:1 <br />" <br />I' <br />H <br />II <br />it <br />iJ <br />II <br />!i <br />II <br />Ii <br />Ii <br />! <br /> <br />bursts in the spring of 1904 produced the largest floods of record <br /> <br />on both the Ca~he 1a Poudre River,and Boulder Creek, <br /> <br />have occurred in or near the thesis area. Gaged discharges during <br /> <br />large floods are lacking within the thesis area. All but two of <br /> <br />the estimates and m.easurements of peak flows were made outside the <br /> <br />thesis area". The two exceptions were caused by reservoir failures <br /> <br />and hence are of little hydrologic significance. There are, howeVer, <br /> <br />abundant qualitative observations (Follansbee, 1948). Residents of <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />the thesis area have related a history of flooding that extends back <br /> <br />to the turn of the century. <br />