FLOOD08428

• County: Lincoln
• Community: Limon
• Stream Name: Limon area rivers and streams
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Town of Limon Reconnaissance Level Investigation
• Date: 9/3/1987
• Prepared For: Limon
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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5.0 PROBLEM

On July 22,1978, the Rock Island Railroad's wooden trestle
at Limon burned. The four tracks of the Rock Island Railroad
crossed the Limon drainageway over an elevated earth
embankment, The destroyed wooden trestle was approximately 80
to 90 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet high and extended over the
main channel. The conveyance area of the old trestle is
estimated to have been about 600 square feet. 2 Stanton 1978
After the trestle burned in July of 1978, it was replaced by
the railroad with two parallel 60-inch diameter corrugated
metal pipe culverts (see Figure 3). According to railroad
engineers, " the two culverts were installed as a temporary
measure to restore rail traffic after the four track bridge was
destroyed by fire."Z The report, by Stanton, proves that
the two replacement culverts will cause 100-year flood water to
back up behind the railroad embankment and flood areas of
Limon. The action of the railroad has negated the effects of
the SCS watershed work of the 1960's by increasing flood
heights behind the railroad embankment.

During September' of 1982, the Soil Conservation Service
published their Flood Plains Management Study for Limon which
included the effects of the reduced conveyance opening at the
Rock Island Railroad tracks.6 The new flood plain maps
indicated a higher flood elevation in the area from the
railroad tracks upstream to the confluence of the three
tributaries (see Figure 4). On January 7,1983, the Colorado
Wa ter Conserva t ion Board des ignated the SCS study and
accompanying maps (CWCB Designation No. 207). The Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published official
floodplain maps using the SCS report as the basis for their
action (see Figure 5).

On January 31, 1984, the Town of Limon submi t ted an
application for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds
for a storm sewer, curb and gutter, and drain pan project for
$141,241. A review of the CDBG application by the Department of
Local Affairs (DOLA) and the Colorado Water Conservation Board
staff indicated that large portion of the project area was
located in the 100 year floodplain of the Limon Tributaries as
shown on FEMA's Flood insurance Study. Federal Executive Order
11988 and similarly the Governor's Executive Order require a
flood hazard evaluation of impact (8-step process) before any
State or Federal funds can be expended in the floodplain. DOLA
stated that CDBG funds would not be permitted for the drainage
project within the Limon floodplain, unless DOLA determined no
practical alternative to such encroachment existed. At the CDBG
hearing in 1984, no funding for the project was provided due to
the floodplain issue.

2 Stanton, William P.;
Floodplain Information
Colorado, October 1978.

Colorado water Conservation
Report New Flood Hazard at

Board,
Limon,

3820E

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