FLOOD08689

• County: Montrose
• Community: Naturita
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Title: FIS - Naturita
• Date: 7/6/1981
• Prepared For: Naturita
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Current FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

2.0 AREA STUDIED

2.1 Scope of Study

This Flood Insurance Study covers the incorporated areas of the
Town of Naturita, Montrose County, Colorado. The area of study
is shown on the Vicinity Map (Figure 1).

A small area of Montrose County located within the corporate limits
of Naturita was not included in this study.

San Miguel River was studied by detailed methods for its entire
course within the Town of Naturita, a distance of approximately
1.8 miles.

An unnamed tributary to San Miguel River, labeled Tributary 1
for purposes of identification in this study, was studied by approx-
imate methods for its entire length within the corporate limits
of the town.

Approximate methods of analysis were used to study areas having
a low development potential or a minimal flood hazard.

Those areas studied by detailed methods were chosen with considera-
tion given to all proposed construction and forecasted development
through 1984.

2.2 Community Description

The Town of Naturita is in south-central Montrose County, in south-
western Colorado. Naturita is located along the western slopes
of the Rocky Mountains, approximately 60 miles south of the City
of Grand Junction, Colorado. The Town of Naturita is surrounded
by unincorporated areas of Montrose County.

The ute Indians were the earliest residents of western Colorado.
In 1868, the utes were placed on a reservation which included
Montrose County and the surrounding area. This reservation was
dissolved by an 1880 treaty which transferred the Ute Indians
to a new reservation in northeastern Utah. On September 1, 1881,
the old Ute Indian reservation was opened for resettlement.

The Naturita area was settled in 1881 by cattle ranchers. One
of the early settlers named the area "Naturita" after the Spanish
word for "Ii ttle nature." The town was incorporated in 1952 and
its primary economic base is vanadium and uranium mining.

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the population of Naturita
was 1067 persons in 1976, and increase of 23 percent since 1970
(Reference 1).

The flood plain of San Miguel River is developed with a few resi-
dential structures, some of which lie at the San Miguel River
channel banks.

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