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

downstream from the dam. This lake, known as Lake Hasty, has a surface
area of approximately 75 acres and a maximum depth of 12 feet. It has
proved very popular for sport fishing since the fishery resources of
the Arkansas River are inadequate to meet the local demand.

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26. Other improvements constructed by the Corps of Engineers in
the Arkansas River Bas i n i ncl ude the Temp leton Gap F loodway at Co lorado
Springs, the Pueblo F loodway l.evee Exterslon at Pueblo, and the Pinon
Canyon Dam at Trinidad. AI I of these improvements were constructed as
single-purpose flood control projects. ,The Templeton Gap Floodway
protects an urban area in the northeast section of Colorado Springs
from runoff which originates on a bowl-shaped drainage area of about
8 square miles and concentrates in the main channel of Templeton Gap
where the rapid fal I produces high velocities. The floodway, which
was completed in 1948, Intercepts and diverts these flows via a paved
channel to Monument Creek, a tributary ,to Fountain Creek. The Pueblo
Floodway Levee Extension is an addition to the lower end of the Pueblo
Floodway which was constructed by local interests on the Arkansas River
through the city of Pueblo shortly after the disastrous flood of, 1921.
The purpose of the extension is to prevent inundation of an urban area
of important i ndustr ia I and transportat ion fac I I It ies by backwater from
floods on the Arkansas River. The Pifton Canyon Dam, which was completed
In 1954, protects a high I Y deve loped urban area of about 40 acres in the
northwestern and central sections of Trinidad from floods originating'
on the precipitous Pifton Canyon Arroyo which drains a watershed area
of about 1.4 square mi les. The projec:t consists of an earth dam which
creates a reservoir with a storage capacity of 406 acre-feet.

27. In addition to the above~de~cribed major improvements, the
Corps of Engineers has constructed 22 emergency flood control projects
In the Arkansas River Basin in Colorado, as authorized under special
continuing authorlties(I). These consist of snagging and channel
clearing, emergency bank protection, emergency repairs to existing
flood control works, and flood fighting operations. Most of the work
has been done in or near cities and t9wns, including Las Animas. Fed-
eral costs have varied from about $4,900 to about $75,000. Emergency
work performed at Las Animas is descr'ibed briefly in the following
paragraphs and the locations are shown on plate 2.

28. Emergency channel repairs to protect U.S. Highway 50 bridge
which crosses the Arkansas River immediately north of the city were
comp leted by the Corps of Eng i neers J:n 1950. Th i s work, author i zed
In accordance with Section 12 of the '1944 Flood Control Act, consisted
of stab! Ilzing about 120 feet of riveir bank adjacent to the north
abutment of the bridge. The cost to'the Federal Government was $7,500.

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(I) Special continuing authorities are those items of legislation
pertaining to urgently needed flood ~ontrol work wherein the authority
and responsibi lity for the selection and funding are dalegated to the
Secretary of the Army and the Ch i et of Eng i neers.

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