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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />Community Description <br />Wiley is located in southeastern Colorado within the Arkansas River basin. It is within Prowers <br />County, and is approximately 8 miles northwest of Lamar, and approximately 110 miles east of <br />Pueblo. Highway 287 is the major north-south highway that serves the town. The town sits at an <br />elevation of about 3,700 feet. The flooding source studied for this FIR is the Wiley Drainage Ditch <br />within the incorporated areas of the Town of Wiley, A location map for Wiley is show in the <br />Appendix. <br /> <br />Channel and Watershed Description <br />Wiley is located along the Wiley Drainage Ditch, which drains a total area of about 72 square miles <br />at the downstream end of town. The ditch drains from north to south, and empties directly into the <br />Arkansas River several miles west of Lamar. The low flow channel of the ditch is well defined <br />through town, with relatively flat and poorly defined overbank areas, The main channel is typically <br />straight with very few bends or meanders, The average streambed slope in the study area is about <br />0,2 percent. <br /> <br />Land use within the watershed is mainly agricultural consisting of irrigated crop lands and native <br />grass and pasture lands. The Fort Lyon and Kicking Bird Canals traverse through the watershed <br />and provide some runoff carrying capacity from the upstream watershed. Under normal operating <br />conditions, the Kicking Bird canal is rarely used during the summer months (flood season), and <br />offers a significant ability to carry runoff from the upstream portion of the watershed. Community <br />officials feel that both the Fort Lyon and the Kicking Bird Canals offer some flood protection <br />benefits to their community. <br /> <br />Floodin!!: Problems and Floodin!!: Historv <br />Flooding in eastern Colorado normally occurs during the late spring and summer months (May <br />through September) as a result of flooding from thunderstorms or general rainstorms, The Wiley <br />Drainage Ditch is subject to flash flooding from rainfall events, where the runoff is dependent on <br />the amount and duration of the rainfall, the antecedent soil moisture conditions, the vegetative/crop <br />cover, and other factors. The most vulnerable housing area within Wiley that is prone to flooding is <br />located at the Gold Addition subdivision, which is on the northeast side of town upstream of <br />Highway 196. This subdivision was built in the 1980's, and currently contains approximately 10 <br />single-family homes, These homes have crawl spaces, but do not have basements. <br /> <br />2 <br />