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II. FLOOD KISTORY Pawnee and Sand Creek have caused serious flooding in the Sterling area several times in the past 65 years. Major floods occurred in 1921, 1935. 1965, and 1963. Each of these floods resulted from intense rainfal1. The 1921, 1935, and 1965 events \iere produced by large-scale general storms; whereas the 1968 event on Sand Creek occurred as t he resu1t of more local intense rainfall west of the city. !zadian(l982) has presented a comprehensive history of flooding in the Sterling area. The following flood accounts abstracted from the U.S. Army (1978) flood information report highlightmajorf1OOdevents which have occurred alon9 the South Platte River in and adjacent to the Sterling area. They are presented here to give some insight as to the source and magnitude of flood waters from Pawnee Creek, Sand Creek, and the South Platte River affecting the Sterling Area. ~ "- Flood waters purportedly covered the bottomlands 1n the Oenver vicinity from bluff to bluff. May June 1864 -- Three separate floods caused by heavy rains over snow occurred during May and June on the South Platte River. Flooding occurred in late ~ay and again in early to mid-June. The South Platte River flood was augmented downstream fromOenverb.v trlbutary inflQ\11 from both the mountain and plains tributaries. May 1876 -- The flood of late ~J 1875 resulted from rainfall on snowpac~. It was reputed to have been the highest flOOd :i~cc 1354 i~ ~~ le~:t ~~e ~~~ve~ ~~e:. June 1894 -- Heavy rainfall over the Front Range of the Rocky ~untains caused flooding on the South Platte River in late May and early June. Floodwaters purportedly COvered l1undredS of acres in tl1" 8rush vkinity. Old timers said theSoutI1PlatteRiverwas"fullytwo1!i1eswide.'. The fort ,'!organ Times of June 8. 1894 s~ated that "for 24 hO.Jrs en 2 June, the flood touChc.d ~he caps on the tops of the South 1844 1864 1876 1894 1921 1935 ; bridge piling". June 1921 .. Heavy rainfall over much of the upper South Platte River basin caused flooding in ~eld County in early June. Between Brighton and Orchard, the wooden bridges were impassable; two were destroyed and the approaches to the others were destroyed fora distance of several hundred yards. At Fort ~rgan the water surface crest was comparable to that of the flood of 1B94. The discharge of this flood at Kersey and at Balzac was the largest ever recorded at those locations except for the flood of ~ay 1973 and the floodofJune1965,respectively. The flooded area at Sterling was reported as being 4 miles wide. .~y 1935 .. Huge Pawnee flood damaged the railroad between Sterlin9 and Atwood, perhaps the biggest in many years. This flow swept out several hundred yards of grade on Highway No. 14, west of Sterling. washed out the approaches to Sterling bridgenorthofAtwood,and sent a tideflo'lling over Highway 6. and the bridge and tracks of railroads at the Pawnee bridge (see Fi9ures 1 and 2). June 1965 -- Flooding occurred June 14 and 15 as the result of heavy rainfall on Pawnee CreeK. Considerable damage occurred throU9hout the lower reaches of the watershed. South of Sterling, near Atwood, Colorado, flOOd water overtopped Highway 6 and railroad tracks. Pawnee Creek flood waters also flowed in a northeasterly direction along Highway 6 and inundated portions of Sterling. June 1968 -~ High intensity rainfall on Sand Creek resul ted in flooding which covered most of the city (see Figures 3~7). Documented flOOd ocurrences since 1844 can be grouped by basin as follows: Platte River Pawnee Creek Sand Creek 1942 1883 1968 1949 1894 1981 1965 1914 1969 1921 1973 1935 1979 1965 1980 6