Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. <br /> <br />FLOOD OF APRIL-MAY 1942 <br /> <br /> <br />The flood of April-May 1942 on the South Platte River and <br /> <br /> <br />tributary streams was the result of snowmelt runoff being augmented <br /> <br /> <br />by heavy precipitation during the last half of April and the first <br /> <br /> <br />part of May. The mountain area above Chatfield Dam produced most <br /> <br /> <br />of the volume that passed the Denver gage and, although peak values <br /> <br /> <br />during this flood were not high in comparison to other floods, the <br /> <br /> <br />volume of runoff was excessive, with a 30-day runoff of 265,000 <br /> <br /> <br />acre-feet flowing past the Denver gage and a 60-day runoff of <br /> <br /> <br />395,000 acre-feet. Four separate flood crests occurred at the <br /> <br /> <br />Denver gage with the maximum peak of 10,200 cubic feet per second <br /> <br />recorded on 25 April. Peak flows in excess of 8,500 cubic feet <br /> <br /> <br />per second were, however, recorded on 19, 23 and 30 April. The <br /> <br /> <br />minimum flow at Denver during the 24-day period from 19 April to <br /> <br /> <br />13 May was about 4,500 cubic feet per second. <br /> <br />FLOOD OF 16-17 JUNE 1965 <br /> <br /> <br />The flood of June 1965 is without question the most disastrous <br /> <br /> <br />flood event in terms of dollar damage that has ever occurred in the <br /> <br /> <br />South Platte basin. In the Denver area the flood was the result <br /> <br /> <br />of runoff from heavy intense rainfall occurring on the evening of <br /> <br /> <br />16 June, centered over the high plains area of the Plum Creek and <br /> <br /> <br />Cherry Creek basins. Runoff from the Cherry Creek area was con- <br /> <br /> <br />trolled by Cherry Creek Dam as the entire hydrograph from that <br /> <br /> <br />area (estimated peak 58,000 cubic feet per second) was stored in <br /> <br /> <br />the Cherry Creek reservoir with zero release. Runoff from the <br /> <br /> <br />uncontrolled Plum Creek area, however, produced a major disaster <br /> <br /> <br />not only along the tributary itself, but also along the South <br /> <br /> <br />Platte River through Denver, beginning at the point where Plum <br /> <br />24 <br /> <br />. <br />