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<br />,. <br />, <br />1f <br />;or_,' <br /> <br />plain of Mill Canyon Creek, and illcorporated Laporte; each town <br />having a population of less than 1,000 in 1970; Fort Collins, with <br />a population of 43,337 in 1970, part of which lies within the <br />flood plain of qpring Creek; and Greeley, with a population of <br />38,902 in 1970. At both Fort Collins and Greeley, flood plain <br />development has been somewhat limited but does include some resi- <br />dential, commercial, and industrial construction. Most of the <br />town of Wellington, with a population of 961 in 1970, lies within <br />the flood plain of Boxelder Creek. <br /> <br />Gravel min~ng is extensive in these flood plains, especially <br />near Fort Collins and Greeley. <br /> <br />PRECIPITATION <br /> <br />Average annual precipitation is about 11 inches at Greeley, <br />14 inches at Fort Collins, and 30 inches in the mountainous areas <br />of the basin. +ntense rainfall during the period from May through <br />September often produces runoff in excess of stream capacities. <br />Streamflow in excess of stream capacities also . results from rapid <br />melting of the basin's snow cover in May and JUne. The greatest <br />potential for severe flooding exists when intense rainfall over <br />an appreciable part of the basin occurs dUring the period of <br />snowmelt runorf. It is possible, however, ror severe nooding to <br />occur from rainfall alone as evidenced by the disastrous Big <br />, <br />Thompson flood on 31 July and 1 August 1976. <br /> <br />8 <br />