FLOOD08463

• County: Las Animas
• Community: Las Animas and Vicinity
• Stream Name: Arkansas River
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Arkansas River and Tributaries, Las Animas, Colorado, and Vicinity
• Date: 2/18/1964
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: COE
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Project

c. House Document No. 387, 78th Congress, Pur~atoire (Picket .
Wire) River. Colorado. Although a channel improvement proJect on the

Section 30fthe River and Harbor Act approved
June 13, 1902, be; arid is hereby requested to
rev i ew the reports on the A'rkansas River and
tributaries contained In House Document 308,
Seventy-fourth Congress, First Session, with a
view to determining whether' any' modification
should be made there in etth is time with respect
to local flood protection ailong the main stem of
the Arkansas River. '

2. In view of the urgent requests' of local interests for immedi-
ate consideration of the serious flood problem at and in the vicinity,
of Las Animas, Colo., the Chief of Engi~eers directed this interim
report to be submitted prior to complet'ion of the comprehensive report'
which wi I I be submitted in response to the above-cited resolutions.

3. PRIOR REPORTS.- The survey reports referenced In the resolu- ,
tions quoted above were submitted in partial compl iance to Congressional
requests enacted in 1924, 1927, and 1928,which called for flood control
surveys on a II tr i butary streams of the! Miss i ss i pp I River System subject
to destructive floods. The report reviewed herein, Part I - Arkansas
River and Minor Tributaries, dated- June! 10, 1932, was published as
Volume I of House Document No. 308, 74th Congress. Surveys made at
that time found no justification for leeal flood protection improve-
ments along the Arkansas River in Co!or~do. However, on the basis of
findings contained in the report, the C~ngress authorized construction
of the John Martin Dam 'by the U.S. ArmyiCorps of Engineers on the
Arkansas River about 18 mi les below Las!Animas. The project was com-
pleted in October 1948 for flood cOntrol and conservation ofirrigatioh
water.' ,

4. Several other reports have beer!l'submitted by the Corps of Engi-
neers regarding the flood and related pri"oblems in the Arkansas River
Basin in Colorado; however, they are not pertinent to the flood problem
at Las Animas. These reports have been!publ ished as follows:

a. House DoCument No. 186, 78th Congress, Fountaine Que
Boui lie (Fountain) River and its Trlbut~rles, Colorado. In accordance
with the recommendations of this reportJCongressauthorized con-
struct i on of the Temp I eton Gap F I oodway ! for the protect i on of the
eastern portion of the city of ColoradolSprings. The project was com-
pleted in 1949.

b. House DOCUment No. 327, 81~t Congress, Arkansas River,
Local Flood Protection at Pueblo. Colorado. As recommended in this
report, Congress authorized the construqtion,of a levee extension to
the Arkansas River Floodway at Pueblo.!The project was completed in
1952.

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