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<br /> <br />,.- <br /> <br />STATEMENT 2!! ~ PROBLEM .9!!: KIOWA CREEK ~ ADJACENT STREAMS <br /> <br />~, <br /> <br />By Dewey Carnllhan <br /> <br />, <br />.' <br /> <br />The flood basin under consideration is in EI Paso, Elbert, Arapahoe, <br />Adams, Weld and Morgan Counties, and embraces the drainage area of the <br />Kiowa, West and East Bijou Creeks and the headWaters of Boxelder Creek. <br />Total area involved is approximately 1,865,000 acres, of which nearly 1.5 <br />million acres are farmed. Almost 40 per cent of the farm land is irri- <br />gated and the remaining 60 per cent is dependent entirely upon rainfall. <br />The most critical flood territory -- about 600,000 acres -_ lies at the <br />headwaters in Elbert and Arapahoe Counties and a small part of El Paso <br />County. This area is tenned "critical" because of" the unusulllly steep <br />terrain and its history as a cloudburst area, and consequently deep erosion. <br /> <br />!. <br />, <br />t <br />f <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The basin has a long record of" nood damage. However, the 1935 <br />nood was so spectacular that it brought attention on a state and national <br />scale. Since that time, smaller floods have been f"requent and damaging to <br />farm lands, roads, bridges and residential areas in small towns. <br /> <br />Kiowa Creek is typical of the entire f"lood basin. Details of" its <br />conditions are in general applicable to the whole area being considered. <br />Therefore, for brevity, statements here are limited to Kiowa Creek. <br /> <br />Kiowa Creek has its origin in the Black Forest area, east of" <br />Monument, Colorado, at an elJlvation of about 8,000 feet, and nows in a <br />northeasterly direction for about 90 miles where it enters the South <br />Platte River about nine miles west of Fort Morgan, Colorado. The drop in <br />elevation from the headwaters to the mouth averages about 40 f"est per mile. <br /> <br />Numerous side drainages enter Kiowa Creek, many of" which are Short, <br />but a f"ew -- such as Comanche and Wolf Creeks -- are major drainages in <br />themselves. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Most of the basin soil is a sandy loam with the exception of the <br />bottomland which is a very fine black alluvial lIlaterial. There is also a <br />considerable area of rich clay soil classed as IUbert sandy clay lo&m which <br />lies in rather scattered tableland sections and is excellent f"arm land.. <br /> <br />The whole area was originally rich in grasses of" many kinds. There <br />were numerous small springs, and the creeks had live clear water in them <br />at all times and were flanked by natural meadows and a continuous grove of <br />cottonwood and willow trees. This was a favored buffalo country and natu- <br />rally was attractive to early settlers who began homesteading the creek <br />areas in the 1850's and 1860's. <br /> <br />L <br />