FLOOD08180

• County: Pueblo
• Community: Pueblo
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: City and County of Pueblo Flood Hazard Mitigation Plan
• Date: 8/1/1994
• Prepared For: Pueblo
• Prepared By: Office of Emergency Management
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Mitigation/Flood Warning/Watershed Restoration

_Puebw Fwod Hazard Mitil!aJion l'wn

These watersheds are similar in that they are
subject to the same types of storms and
flooding which is due to similar stream
channel characteristics and dimates_ The
stream chano.els in these watersheds are
characterized by long, narrow stems and
tributaries. Analysis of climatological data
and inspection of the flood history for the
Arkansas River subbasin abovtl John Martin
Reservoir (near Las Animas, Colorado)
shows the most severe flood-producing
storms occur during the late spring or
summer months. Warm, moist air from the
Gulf of Mexico mixes with cold, dry air
from the polar regions to create increased
thunderstorm activity in the area. The runoff
from these storms combines with snowmelt
in the spring and can create high stream
flows_ ThesE: high flows in the narrow
channels can conduct flooding with high
peak flows of small volumes and short
durations Valley storage, high infiltration
rates, and irrigation diversions cause
considerable attenuation of the flood flows
moving downstream to the Arkansas River.

Fountain Creek flows south through the
northeast sector of Pueblo. Fountain Creek,
a north-bank tributary of the Arkansas River,
stretches approximately 65 miles long as
measured from Palmer Lake to the Arkansas
River confluence at Pueblo. Tile watershed
constitutes a drainage area of 927 square
miles over several counties. The creek
originates about seven miles northwest of
Pikes Peak in the mountains of the Rampart
Range. Elevations in the watershed vary
from 14,1 09 feet at Pikes Peak to 4,627 feet
where it meets the Arkansas River. Fountain
Creek headwaters are fed from snowpack
and springs of the alpine west slope canyons
of Pikes Peak The creek emerges through
the foothills and onto the high plains at

Colorado Springs where it enters a drainage
area at the Monument Creek junction_
Fountain Creek is perennial except for a few
days during the summer when irrigation and
municipal demands exceed the low summer
flows_ Some irrigation-return flows are
experienced in the plains sector of the creek

The damaging floods in Pueblo on Fountain
Creek normally originate in storms in the
Colorado Springs area on the main stem and
tributaries_ Floods that originate in this area
may dissipate to negligible proportions prior
to reaching Pueblo, depending upon
precipitation events and soil moisture content
in the area between Colorado Springs and
Pueblo. The Fountain Creek Flood Control
Project, designed to control up to a 200 year
flood event in the city, helps mitigate against
flooding.

The Sf. Charles River originates near San
Isabel, Colorado on the northeast face of the
Wet Mountains This perennial mountain
stream follows a 50 mile, northeasterly
course, until its waters enter the Arkansas
River eight miles east of Pueblo Elevations
in the watershed range from above 9,000 feet
to 4,545 feet, and its drainage area covers
approximately 482 square miles

Wild Horse-Dry Creek, an Arkansas River
north-bank tributary, conveys the combined
streamflows of Wild Horse Creek and Dry
Creek (not to be confused with Dry Creek
just east of the city of Pueblo)_ This
tributary flows southeasterly through the
city's northwest quadrant into the Arkansas
River. The watershed is approximately 17
miles long as measured from its headwaters
to the Arkansas River confluence at Pueblo_
Its drainage area covers 82.8 square miles,

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