FLOOD08758

• County: Routt
• Community: Steamboat Springs
• Stream Name: Yampa River
• Basin: Yampa/White
• Title: Flood Hazard Information
• Date: 2/1/1976
• Prepared For: Routt County
• Prepared By: US Army Corps of Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Sacramento District, Corps of
Engineers, gratefull~' acknowledges the
assistance and cooperation of the Bud Werner
Memorial Library: ''The Steamb<mt Pilot:"
the City of Steamboat Springg; the Routt
County Regional Planning: Commission; the
Colorado Water Conservation Board; the

Colorado Department of Highways; the U.s.
Forest Service; the U.S. Soil Conservation
Service; theU.S,Gl'Ological Survey; Dismuke
and Di~muke.ConsultingF;ngineers and S\.r.
veyors; Dales Y. FClSter, Inc.: and others who
directlyorindireetlyaidedinthcpreparation
of this report.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY
AREA
Steamboat Springs lS located In
northwestern Colorado at an devation 01
about 6700 feet on the we~tern slope of the
Continental Divide. Its setting is moun.
tainouswith peaks rising 9-1O,0lJ0 feet in the
immediate area and to over 12,000 feet in
headwater areas. For many years following
its original settlement in 1875, Steamboat
Sprin~ was a center of livestock raising
carried on in the region by a few lar!,"e
ranche" that tlm &OOllt 100.000 h"ad <>feattle
on open range. Livestock raising is still very
important in the economy of the community.
Atone time or another around the turn of the
century, th~re were great expectations for
prcxluctionotgold,silver,lead,copper,conl.
and other minerals, butenly coal (of which
there arehugedeposiL~in the regionl became
and remains significant in the economl' of the
ci\y. With the rise of toorism in the early part

DRAINAGE AREA
The Yampa River, a northerly flowing
stream in the study area, is tributary to the
ColoractoRivcr via the Gr<>en River. Its upper
drainage basin is baundl'<l bv tl'e F.lkhe~,l

of the 20th Century, Steamboat Springs'
alpine.like setting made it a popular stopping
point for summer tourists, Summer tourism
continues at present asan important factor in
the economic base. The heavy winter snow.
pack characwristie of northwest Colorado
contributed loan interest in skiing as a
neccssit}'farwinwrtransportationinpione"r
times, then as a sport in the early 1900's. In
the past few deeades. the excellent slopes and
snowpaek near Slc(lmboat Sprir,g5. and thc
widespread increase in skiinggenerally,hayc
contributed to development of skiing
facilities to such an extent that serving the
necds of skiers h:::s become the darninantscc.
tor of the economic basc of the city, Steam.
boat Springs is now known nationwide as
"Ski Town. U,S.A.~ and it'.! transient winter
population is about equal to the permanent
resident population of around 5.000.

Mountains on the north, the Park Range on
the east, and by theWhitc RiverPlatra\l an
the south and WftCt. Elevations range from
about moo feet in the Steamboat Sprin~

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area to around 10.000 feet in the Pa~k Range
and 12.500 feet an the White R;ver Plateau,
Climate of the regian IS characterized by cool
summers and ~vere winters_ Normai annual
precipitation varies .....ith elevation and
ranges from 25 inches in valley floor areas to
80 inches (estimate) in the Park Range./llost
of the annual precipitation occurs as snow
and a deep snawpaek accumulates. Vegeta.
tion in the basin varies according to eleva.
tion. Much of the Yampa Valley is devoted to
production of hay and the native vegetation

TABL.E 2

hasbeendrasticallymodified.lnnllej'areas
below 8000 feet not used for agriculture,
vegetation is cla."if;e<1 as Northern Desert
Shrub: that is, sa~ebrush, rabbitbrush. and
winterfat with an under~tory of various har'
dy grasses. Subalpine Forest ("'pi'n.
lodgepole pine, Douglas and other firs. and
Englemen spruce) extends from about 8000
feettotimberline,lnlotal,thestreamsunder
study drain more than 600 square miles as
shown in Table 2,

DRAINAGE AREAS

Gaging Station (At Steamboat Springs)
Corporate Limit
Corporate Limit
Corporate Limit
Gllging Station (Upper Station near
Steamboat Springs)
GagingSbtion (Near Steamboat
Springs)
Near Storm Meadows Drh'e

Stream

location

Yampa Ri,'er
SodaCreck
BulcherknifeCreck
Spring Creek
~'ish Creek

WaitonCreek

BurgessCrcck

NATURE OF FLOOD PROBLEMS
As noled earHer, most of the annual
precipitation in the Yllmpa River Basin l)C.
CUrs as snow IInd a deep snowpac-k a<:"Cu.
mulates in the high elevatians. Gcneral
rainstormsroveringlar~arcasfore"tended
perioo" ean occur in the Steamboat Springs
region f~om late sl'rinK throuKh early fall.
Convective tj'pe cloudburst storms of small
areal extent can be expected frequelltlydur-
in!!: the summer.
In I':eneral. snowmelt in spring ar ellrly
Summer constitutes a frequent but com.

Approximate
OralnageArea
sq.ml.
604
20
.
8
25

<2

.

paratively minor flOvd threat. M>\]or floods in
Steamboat Springs have been the resulto[
snowmelt augmented by rain in spring Or
early summer, General rainstorms have lIat
caused significantfioods in the Yampa River
Basin. However, there is 110 rea.""n to con.
dude that rare but very large floods
resulting from general rain are notpos"ible
in the Yampa Ri,'er Bas;n, Reeords show
that. in western Colorado, major flood
producing rain~torms almO$t alwa~'s occur
durinI': the months of September alld

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