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channel and the road and railroad embankments and bridges which cross the flood plain. During periods of high water, these fa- cilities tend to impede flood flows causing backwater conditions which increase flood heights upstream and flood velocities down- stream. Debris which is washed away by flood waters is carried downstream to collect and obstruct downstream bridges and cul- verts and thus raises flood waters in these areas. The accumu- lation of debris on the Burlington Northern rail roan bridge would greatly increase the threat and severity of flooding within the City of Brush. There are no existing or impending flood control structures in the study area or upstream of the study area which would tend to reduce the present flood hazard. Many small irrigation water storage facilities and farm stock ponds exist along Beaver Creek and within the Beaver Creek basin; however, these facilities have little, if any, impact on regulating or controlling the impact of major flood waters downstream, I i , , HISTORY OF FLOODING The history of flooding on Beaver Creek in and around Brush is vague and incomplete. AvailaLle re~ords indicate major flood events occurred in 1935, 1955 and 1965, Even though there are no published, formal flood records on Beaver Creek prior to 1935, it is certain that floods did occur. Colorado was settled in the late 1850's, but before that time, travelers, hunters and immigrants, on the long trek to the far west, recorded the occurrence of many flood events. The earliest floods re('ord""d in C,-,lorado wen" th"~e on the Arkansas and Republi- can Rivers in 1826. Widespread flooding of major proportions oc- curred on the Arkansas River and, ty inference, on the South Platte River and major eastern tributarie~ to the South Platte in 1844 (Reference 1). Another notable flood occurred on Kiowa Creek on May 21, 1878. It was reported that this flood washed away a railroad -7- bridge crossing the creek shortly before a freight train arrived at the bridge. With the bridge gone, the freight train plunged into the saturated sand of the normally dry channel, never to be found or recovered. Widespread rains on June 2-7, 1921, caused flooding from the South Platte River canyon above Denver to the Colorado-Nebraska state line. ClOUdburst rains ift the Kowa Creek and Beaver Creek basins on May 30 and 31, 1935, caused the second largest flood ever recorded on the South Platte River (Reference 2). Newspaper accounts of the 1935 flood reported that many bridges and railroad crossings were washed out and many communities were isolated from rail and road transportation. Flood warnings were issued in Brush as flood waters on Beaver Creek approached the bridges east of town; however, few residents expected high water or the possibility of even seeing flood waters rushing through the streets of downtown. The Brush News Tribune, on June 6, 1935, reported that: "...the creek channel narrows noticeably at the point just east of Brush which resulted in water b~cking along the r~ilroad bridge as far as the depot, where it swept over the tracks, reaching more than two-foot depthS in a short time. The south side of Brush was under three to four feet of water, almost before residents could leave their houses. On€ or two houses W'ilre pushed off the foundation ~nd several foundatlons crumbled under the pressure of the water. On the north side of the tracks, the water reached an average depth of two feet. Some of the businesses were able to keep water off the ground floors, but all base- ments were filled to the top doing extensive damage to store merchandise stocks." On the same date, the paper also reported that: ".. .Heaver Creek ha>; HMche" high wdL",r:;; oUI" flooJ. l"v"ls frequently in the past inflicting heavy damage to farmers and stockmen, but this time the destruction was infinitely greater than on previous cocas ions and marked the first time in the history of Brush that flood waters ever reached its streets. As one Brush man expressed it, 'Maybe the Indians have seen a flood like this, but no white man ever did.'" -8-