FLOOD06564

• County: Boulder
• Community: Boulder
• Stream Name: Goose, Wonderland, Elmer's Twomile, 2-mile, 4-mile
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Major Drainageway Planning Volume 1, Part B
• Date: 4/1/1969
• Prepared For: Boulder County
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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SECTION '"

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ALTERNATE PLANS

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The channel encroachment and deterioration of the major drainage-
ways in North Boulder have created a significant drainage problem,
Paralleling the deterioration of the channels has been the encroach-
ment onto the flood plain. This is a typical problem in the entire
urbanized area of the Denver Region.

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The development of alternate concepts for the drainageways included
basic data collection, hydrological studies, field inspections, and
the development of various possible alternates which appeared to pro-
vide an opportunity for a solution to the long range flood problem
in the area. The various alternates were developed util izing an
environmental design team which included the following:

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Joe Shoemaker, Attorney and State Legislator, Denver
Gerald Kessler, Consulting Landscape Architect, Denver
James Small, Consulting City Planner, Denver
John Sheaffer, Urban Drainage Planner, University of
Chicago
Kenneth Wright, Consulting Engineer, Denver

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Each of the alternates was reviewed by the environmental design team
and, taking all factors into consideration, a selection of the best
alternates was made. These recommendations were presented to the
officials of the City of Boulder and Boulder County in two special
meetings at the Boulder Municipal Bui lding. The recommendations were
accepted. Two of the significant aspects of the study of the various
alternates were that each member of the environmental design team
was involved in detailed field inspections of the basins and the
team was unanimous in supporting each of the recommendations.

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It was pointed out at both special meetings in Boulder that urban
drainage problems consist of two basic types, The first urban
drainage problem that one might consider is that of the storm sewer
variety. This type of drainage is sometimes cal led initial drainage,
sometimes convenience drainage, The works needed for this type of
drainage often consist of planned and designed closed and open con-
du i ts and the i r appurtenances; in othe r words, the typ i ca 1 storm
sewer system. The lack of this initial system often causes standing
water in streets, over-topped sidewalks, and a messy urban image.
It is particularly troublesome during snowmelt runoff periods when
one has water standing for long periods of time. The lack of a good
initial drainage system helps cause deterioration of roads and gutters
and results in the majority of complaints to the Department of Publ ic
Wor ks,

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In many of our cities the major system often has not been planned or
designed and its functioning very often results in flood damage losses.
The effectiveness of urban drainage design depends upon a clear picture

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