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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />Community Description <br /> <br />Coal Creek is located in south central Colorado, about 40 miles southeast of Colorado Springs in <br />the Arkansas River valley. It is approximately 9 miles southeast of Canon City, and approximately <br />2 miles due south of Florence. The elevation of Coal Creek is about 5400 feet. It lies along Coal <br />Creek, a south bank tributary to the Arkansas River. The area studied for the FHBM is the <br />incorporated territory of the Town of Coal Creek as of August 15,1975. <br /> <br />Watershed Description <br /> <br />Coal Creek originates in Fremont County, about 7 miles southwest of the town. The headwaters <br />are located at elevations around 9,000 feet, in the foothills south of Canon City and Florence, in the <br />San Isabel National Forest. Once it leaves the National Forest, the creek flows northeasterly, <br />through private land in unincorporated Fremont County. Within the corporate limits .of the town <br />three tributaries join Coal Creek. The fIrst tributary, Southeast Tributary, joins near the <br />southeastern comer of the town. The second tributary, Southwest Tributary, joins near the middle <br />of the town. The third tributary, West Tributary, joins near the northeastern comer of the town. <br />West Tributary is, in turn, joined by a small subtributary drainage which joins it from the south. <br />The drainage area of Coal Creek at the upstream corporate limit is approximately 9.4 square miles, <br />and the drainage area at the downstream corporate limit is approximately 11.2 square miles. Coal <br />Creek continues toward the northeast, flowing through the City of Florence until its confluence <br />with the Arkansas River about two miles downstream of (northeast of) the Town of Coal Creek. <br />At its confluence with the Arkansas River in Florence the drainage area of Coal Creek is <br />approximately 18.1 square miles. <br /> <br />Floodine: Problems and Floodine: Historv <br /> <br />Convective type cloudburst storms, sometimes lasting for several hours, can be expected to occur in <br />the Coal Creek area during the summer months. The cloudburst storms can cause high peak flows <br />with a small water volume over a short duration. Flooding from general rainstorms may also occur <br />during the months of June through September. General rainfall flooding is characterized by higher <br />peak flows with a moderate volume and a moderate duration. Flooding is more severe when <br />antecedent rainfall has resulted in saturated ground conditions and infiltration is minimal. <br /> <br />Local street flooding and overland flooding has occurred in Coal Creek during the summer months <br />as a result of runoff from thunderstorm activity in the area. There is some history of flooding on <br />Coal Creek in Florence. The most severe historic flood on Coal Creek occurred on June 5, 1921, <br />when a flow estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to be 3720 cubic feet per second "hit the city <br />as a 4- to 6-foot wall of water." Other floods that affected Coal Creek occurred in 1909, 1932, <br />1941,1948,1949 and 1965. Those floods also affected Oak Creek, a watershed immediately west <br /> <br />3 <br />