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<br />CHAPTER 1 <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />1.1 PURPOSE. The purpose of the Colorado Flood Hydrology Manual (CFHM) is to <br />present guidance to assist in conducting flood hydrology studies on streams and rivers <br />within the state of Colorado, The manual's intent is to: 1) provide guidance on methods, <br />procedures, and policies, 2) establish consistency in the selection, application, and results <br />of various hydrologic methods, 3) review policy and decision elements, and 4) consolidate <br />references, criteria, and policies into one document. <br /> <br />Due to the critical role of hydrology in all forms of water resource projects such as flood <br />plain delineation, design of hydraulic structures, flood waming systems, etc., it is essential <br />that the most appropriate and accurate means possible be used to define the hydrology <br />at every project. <br /> <br />The manual is designed to address unique problems encountered in developing flood <br />hydrology within Colorado basins and watersheds including the physical complexities of <br />frontal system movements, orographic effects, and urbanization impacts, The manual <br />addresses the applicability of various methods in rainfall and snowmelt runoff analyses. <br />Recent developments in establishing new methods for analyzing front range <br />thunderstorms, paleoflood hydrology, and risk and uncertainty analysis are incorporated <br />into the manual. Descriptions of the background theory, limitations. and applications of <br />various hydrologic methods for gaged and ungaged streams are Included in the manual. <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />12 USERS. Anticipated users of this manual include local communities which do not <br />currently have their own criteria manuals. It is not the Intent to use this manual to <br />superceed any existing criteria of local communities. A partial list of local communities <br />which currently have criteria manuals include: <br /> <br />Urban Drainage and Flood Control District <br />Boulder County <br />City of Colorado Springs <br />City of Grand Junction <br />City of Ft. Collins <br />Larimer County <br />etc. <br /> <br />ColorQ(/Q Flood <br />Hydrology Manual <br /> <br />1,1 <br /> <br />fR'JFT <br />