Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Town <br />of Olathe, and Montrose County. <br /> <br />The final community coordination meeting was held on September <br />14, 1981 and was attended by representatives of the Federal Emergency <br />Management Agency, the study contractor, and the town. All problems <br />raised at the meeting have been resolved. <br /> <br />2.0 AREA STUDIED <br /> <br />2.1 Scope of Study <br /> <br />This Flood Insurance Study covers the incorporated areas of the <br />Town of Olathe, Montrose County, Colorado. The area of study <br />is shown on the Vicinity Map (Figure 1). <br /> <br />The report includes a detailed study of 1.2 miles of Uncompahgre <br />River through the corporate limits of the Town of Olathe. <br /> <br />Those areas studied by detailed methods were chosen with considera- <br />tion given to all proposed construction and forecasted development <br />through 1986. <br /> <br />2.2 Community Description <br /> <br />The Town of Olathe is located in northern Montrose County, in <br />west-central Colorado. It is surrounded by unincorporated areas <br />of Montrose County. Olathe is located along the banks of Uncompahgre <br />River and covers a total land area of 0.9 square mile. According <br />to U.S. Bureau of the Census figures, the population of Olathe <br />was 884 persons in 1976 (Reference 1), an increase of 12 percent <br />since 1970 (Reference 2). <br /> <br />The Ute Indians were the earliest residents of western Colorado. <br />Between 1868 and 1880, the area surrounding Olathe was part of <br />a large Ute Reservation. On September 3, 1881, the reservation <br />was opened for resettlement after relocating the Ute tribe in <br />northeastern Utah. <br /> <br />The Olathe area was settled in 1881 as predominantly a farming <br />community. The name of the town was changed from Brown, Colorado, <br />to Olathe, COlorado, in 1897. Olathe is an Indian translation <br />of "City Beautiful". Olathe was incorporated in 1904, and the <br />current economic base for the area is mainly agricultural. <br /> <br />Uncompahgre River, which was studied by detailed methods in this <br />report, originates high on the northern slopes of the San Juan <br />Mountains, a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, approximately 50 <br />miles upstream of Olathe. It flows north-northwesterly from its <br /> <br />2 <br />