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<br />Creek spread to widths ranging between 500 and 1,500 feel. On the downstream 6 miles <br />of Toll Gate Creek, the flood width ranged from 300 to 1,000 feel. Transportation and <br />urban damages on Sand and Toll Gate Creeks were estimated at $3,000,000, Additional <br />rainstorms in July 1965 seriously hampered recovery efforts and destroyed temporary <br />bridges. These caused basement flooding in Aurora. <br /> <br />4,12 CHERRY CREEK <br /> <br />Flood Historv. Because of channel improvements and construction of Cherry Creek <br />Dam, many of the flood problems that once loomed large along that stream have been <br />eliminated. Runoff from the upper basin is completely controlled by the dam and flood <br />control releases are limited to the capacity of the downstream channel. During the evening <br />and night of 16 June 1965, the Cherry Creek Reservoir impounded a flood which had a <br />peak inflow of 58,000 c.f.s. The flood stored in the reservoir saved an estimated $130 <br />million in flood damages downstream from the dam on the Cherry Creek and South Platte <br />River flood plains. However, there was considerable damage upstream from the dam. <br />Prior to the existence of the dam, major floods occurred on Cherry Creek in 1964, 1876, <br />1885.1912,1933, and 1935. The shortest interval between major floods was two years, <br />with an average interval of fourteen years. The flood of 14 July 1912 resulted from a <br />violent rainstorm lasting two hours, during which rainfall of 2.08 inches was recorded. The <br />pattern of this storm caused a cumulative effect on runoff which was near the maximum <br />for a storm of this intensity. <br /> <br />Flood of Spring 1844. According to legend a major flood occurred on the South Platte <br />River during the spring of 1844. An article In the 22 June 1864 Denver Commonwealth <br />Indicated that Major James Bridger In relating his travel experiences told of a lIood <br />'extending from the bluff on Cherry Creek to the extreme bluff on the South Platte River.' <br />He indicated he was compelled to wait 9 days before being able to cross the river and <br />continue his journey. The apparent high volume associated with this event would support <br />the references to deep snow and continuous rain recorded in Major James Bridger's diary. <br /> <br />Flood of July 1912. In 1912, the only Weather Bureau Station in the Cherry Creek <br />basin was located in Denver. Records indicate that 2.08 inches of rain occurred between <br />Franktown and a point about 5 miles north of Denver, with the center located near Parker. <br />The rainfall started at about 3 p.m. and continued until approximately 5 p.m. Cherry Creek <br />crested at about 10 p.m. and had a peak discharge of 25,000 cubic feet per second in <br />Denver, The Cherry Creek Flood Commission estimated that runoff occurred from an area <br />of about 200 square miles. Flood damages in the reach between Franktown and the site <br />of the existing Cherry Creek Dam and 'Reservoir totaled $554,000, <br /> <br />Flood of July 1922. A severe storm centered over the Bayou Gulch basin, a tributary <br />to Cherry Creek, during the afternoon of 28 July 1922. Heavy rainfall was reported to have <br />occurred in an area bounded by lines 3 miles north of Parker, about 4 miles west of Cherry <br /> <br />Colorado Flood <br />Hydrology Manual <br /> <br />4.17 <br /> <br />a:w=r <br />