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<br />
<br />41. Extent amd character offlooded area-Orops.-The principal crops
<br />in order ef thair importance in the overflow area are sugar beets,
<br />alfalfa, cern, beans, small grains, truck garden, and hay. The aver-
<br />age total annual ,value of the main crops, based upon present condi-
<br />tions; is $48,300 Or $46 per acre for 1,050 acres, The distribution,
<br />average annual yield a,nd value, and total value for the most impor-
<br />tant crops). whon not damaged by flood, are shown in table No, 5,
<br />appendi", U.' "
<br />42. Extent and character of flooded area-Property values.-The
<br />value of all public, industrial, business, railroad, and utility proper,
<br />ties was determined from information furnished by officials of the po-
<br />litical subdivisions concerned, and by owning corporations or parties.
<br />The value of lands and other improvements was determined by field
<br />appraisals. The estimated total value of p<roperty in the flood plain
<br />is $5,673,500. The value of railroad property in the flood plain
<br />amounts to $3,450,500, in TJ:inidad, and $278,300 outside ofTrin-
<br />idad, which is about 65 pcrcent of the total valuation in the overfloW
<br />area. The total property in the city of Trinidad flood plain, exclud-
<br />ing railroad and irrigation, amounts to $1,520,700. The agricultural-
<br />land values in the Hood plain are $118,300. Irrigation headworks,
<br />prior to the Hood of April 1942, were valued at $166,500. The classi-
<br />fication and estimated value of property in the flood plain are sbown
<br />in table No. '6, appendix C.' '
<br />43. Flood damages-General.-Flood damages have been classified
<br />as tangible and inta,ngible. Tangible flood damages have been com-
<br />piled as direct and indirect losses. A distinction has been made be-
<br />tween 'prevcntable llJid nonpreventable, also between recurrent and
<br />nonrecurrent damages. At the time the inventory of property in the
<br />floed plain wasnlade, estimates were also ma,de of the damages that
<br />would be sllst,ained by each unit of property in Trinidad in the event
<br />of the recurrence of Hoods reaching the elevation of those of Sep- ,
<br />tember 30, 1904, and of July 22 1925, and in the event of the occur-
<br />rence of a flood reaching an elevation .5 feet higher thllJl that of 1904,
<br />which would have an estimated maximum discharge of 112,000 cubic
<br />feet per second. Immediately following the flood of April 1942, a
<br />survey of dltmages from Sopris Dam site to the mouth of Purgatoire
<br />River WitS made, , .
<br />44. Flood damage,,- Trinidad.- The greatest losses from Hood-
<br />waters havc occurrcd at Trinidad and the tangible losses Itt that city
<br />have consistcd principally of damages to residential, business, indus-
<br />trial, municipal, and public-utility properties. An account of the
<br />1904 flood, the most disastrous known at Trinidad, published in the
<br />United States Geological Survey Water Supply llJld Irrigation Paper
<br />No~ 147, gives the estimated losses in the city as $3.50,000. Local
<br />interests have ostimated the losses in the city from this flood at
<br />$500,000. The flood reached an estimated peak discharge of 45,'000
<br />cubic feet per 'secollfl. During this flood communication, transporta-
<br />tion, a,nd publie utility installations were severely damaged and
<br />services were interrupted. Several brick and stone structures adja,
<br />ccnt to the river were destroyed, and foul' bridges in the city were
<br />swept entirely aWltY. ' " .
<br />45. The flood of April 1942, the second largest of record, produced
<br />a peak discharge 'about 9,000 cubic feet per second less thltn the 1904
<br />
<br />I,Not printed.
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