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<br />reilroed bridge. T~e D&RGW railroad tracks wara t~reataned so
<br />s..ver..ly t~"t trdn sllrvice "'''S stopp..d betw....n Del Nort.. and Monte
<br />Vl=l~ f~. ~~v~r"l deys. Altho~g~ some cars hav.. p""s9d OV9r th..
<br />Cunbarral Road betw....n town and t~e bridga, almost th.. entire dis-
<br />tanco io under w"tar and the ..am.. condition W~8 fOund in the Sol_
<br />diers Homo Lan<l [Homa1ake Road] and Stoeber Lane. T~e lIIatar
<br />reached the Li9htner PIece ona_half mile north of Mont.. Vieta.
<br />B..side.. th.. damago to roade and bridgas, the lettuce and ~ay crop..
<br />ara badly affectad and so<necattl.. lIIeredro",nedneerDel Nort..."
<br />
<br />By June 3. aftar mora rains and warm w8ather, the
<br />riv..r discharg.. had increas..d to a naw p....k of 5.660 cubic foot
<br />per ssnond at the Gunbarrol Road gaging station, as maasured by
<br />thadaputystateenginaar. R<lads crossing the river in tha,v,onta
<br />Vi9ta arO~ r~mained dosed to tr~ffic. "An estim~ted $25,000
<br />wortll of flood d",""ge "'8S illcuu.w ~t <only two of the bridgM and
<br />appro80hesacrosstheriver,"acountycommissionerstoted.
<br />
<br />men ~bove Del Norte.
<br />
<br />The Farmers' Union Raservoir [Rio Cr~nds
<br />
<br />June 19. 1949
<br />The highest peak flow durin9 1949 lIIas 6,650 cubic f~ot
<br />per seoond ~t tho Cunbarrei Road g~ging station. The Monta Vista
<br />Journ~l indic~ted t~at the river lIIa~ rIsing rapidly, "nd carryin9
<br />4,907 cubic feat per sscund on June 16. The flows were just !aeoh_
<br />ing flood ~tege on June 17 M the snolllmelt "atero wers "...lapping
<br />over chennel ben~=, filling up sloughs, and oovering meado" lakes.
<br />For t~e first time in l.:.,tory, the thrap c;:~j~~ reservoirs in the
<br />upper Rio Grende drainage "ill be fillsd to oapacity." The r~~~qr~'
<br />Union Re~arvoir fRio Crande Il,"~,"=':~~: ~ "85 spilling, ,.,nd ~" offi-
<br />oi\,l of the Water Office said that Santa Maria and Continental
<br />Roso,voirs would be filled within" rleys if the ~ame rete of ater_
<br />~,,~ conlifluad.
<br />On Juno 24, tho Monte Vista Journal reported' "Although
<br />the rivcn' r~"c~,~d ita high,,~t p""k in 22 yO~l'~, rloed d""'''9~~ w~ro,
<br />reported as far lea5 than lost year. New ohannels along the river
<br />couree, "ided by dikes cunstL'uct"d l,,~t fall ~"d eady till" yua,-,
<br />k..pttheRioCranrJ"pretlYlnuchwithinitanormalcourse,aalw"vy
<br />rains in the upper lIIatershed on June 17 "nd IS ~ugmented tho 01-
<br />ra"dy high snowmel~ flow.., Stoeber Lana "nd 50vonm110 PI~za bridges
<br />were dosed for one day due to high water. Un J'.me 19. residents
<br />at Sevenmile Plala started ~ovin9 hOUSAhold go~s from thAir ho~es
<br />w"on 11 w',. report~(l th~t ~rlrlit;on~l floorlwHlpr '"~~ p~r..d,,,rl th~'
<br />night as w~ter ~lready otood a foot deep around ~ovorol residence"."
<br />
<br />On July
<br />in Monte Vista lost
<br />
<br />2, the San Luia Valley Nellis stated' "Two boys
<br />thBir lives in the flood",aters as did a fisher-
<br />
<br />ReservoirJ ebove Creede has been reported in a dangerous condition
<br />ef1dallgateshavebe"nopenlld,andl,800sllcondfeetofwaterie
<br />9oingover the epillwllY to try tokaep thedllm from going out."
<br />"floevy Reins Save 10 Daya lrrig~tion," headlined the
<br />Alemo"" Journal of Jun<l 10. '''The farmers h~dn't squealed but they
<br />lIIere"..ttinguno,,"'ywhenthnheavenaopenedup."
<br />
<br />Mav22.1948
<br />T~.. Rio Crande'~ higha~t peak flo," in 1948 weS 7,100
<br />cubic feet per second at tho Cunbsrrel Road bridga gaging st~tion,
<br />On mey 20, the rivar ~ad risan to the near flood stage of 5,555
<br />cubio feet per second from warm weather melting the snow pack and
<br />r~in over moet of the uppsr ,""terahed. "All tributaries of t~e
<br />Rio Grands wsre flo"ing bankfull eS a reault of the suddan change
<br />irltompersturo;Jndr<lins,"""idthe MonteVist"'Journ,,lofM"y21 .
<br />Evan prior to tha highset flow, Stosber Lane Ro"d waO Cloosd
<br />whlln " ~ootion "'oa ",ashad-out. In addition, four irrigdtion
<br />csnala above Monte Vista wers diverting almost 2,000 cubic feet
<br />per oncond. During tho flood peak, five road crossinga were
<br />~lu"eJ Lu L"urfic Ju~ lo "d~h"J_uut ~pl-'ro"ch"", 8mJ ons <If th~
<br />5"n Luis Cantr"l Railrorld bridges wso dsstroyed when a piling
<br />gavaway.
<br />
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