FLOOD07193

• County: Fremont
• Community: Canon City
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Floodplain Management Study, Four-Mile Mud Gulch Final Report
• Date: 6/1/1996
• Prepared For: Fremont County
• Prepared By: DNR
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Community File

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lawns, shrubs, trees, flowers, and forbes are a part of the landscape.
There are some willows and cottonwoods along those channels that have a
sustained water supply. The channel does a considerable amount of
meandering which enhances the visual aesthetics and wildlife habitat
values in the area.

The mean annual precipitation for the basin ranges from 12 to 18 inches.
A precipitation station which is located at an elevation of 5343 ft, near
the Warden Penitentiary in Canon City, has a mean annual precipitation of
12.57 inches with August accounting for the greatest average monthly
rainfall value of 1.88 inches. Snowfall does occur throughout the
winter period however there is no large accumulation. An analysis into
the contribution of spring snowmelt to flooding suggests it is not a
significant factor. Late spring and summer rains are the most likely to
produce flooding in the study area.

B. Limits of Study Areas
The study includes all the Four-Mile Creek drainage from the west
boundary of Section 14, T18S, R70W, to its confluence with the Arkansas
River and the Mud Gulch drainage from the Four-Mile Lane bridge north of
Highway 50 to its confluence with the Arkansas River. This includes the
following reaches:

Reach Name

Reach Lenqth

Four-Mile Creek
Mud Gulch

4.55 miles
2.05 II

Total Reach Length:

6,60 miles

An index map showing the location of flood
figure 3. The flood plain maps themselves
following the index map.

plain mapping is included as
are shown as sheets 1 thru 7

RELATED FLOOD STUDIES

A detailed Flood plain Information Report was done in December 1981, by
Camp Dresser & McKee Incorporated of Denver, Colorado, in cooperation
with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. This report only presented
the flood plain information on the Arkansas River in the Town of
Florence, the City of Canon City, and in Fremont County between Florence
and Canon City.

FLOOD HISTORY

There have been numerous floods in the past 100 years, the impact of
which has increased in recent years due to continued development in the
flood plains. Information from local residents, newspaper, and the
Weather Bureau shows that flash flooding has occurred in 1906, 1921,
1929, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1966,
1974, 1977, and 1991. Based on a damage assessment done in 1977 by Joe
Alessi of N.R.C.S., the 1974 flood caused more than $250,000 in damage to
the east of Canon City.

Flooding along Four-Mile Creek
storms on the watersheds above
the flood of August 12, 1991.

and Mud Gulch occurs as a result of local
the City. An example of local flooding is
This particular event was not an extreme

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