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I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I II: Background Information A.' Drainage Basin Description Kiowa Creek orginates 14.8 miles slightly west from South of the Town of Elbert in the Black Forest. Elevations range from 7700 feet at the southern extremity to 6690 feet below Elbert in the study area. As shown on Plate I the Kiowa Creek basin is quite long in,' relationship to its nearly constant width of 4.7 miles. The upper half of the basin lies in EI Paso County, where a dense cover of primarily Ponderosa Pine dominates the terrain. In the lower half, the ridge tops are similarly covered and abound in sandstone outcrops. The valleys are generally wide and moderately sloping and are vegitated by native grasses. ' Kiowa Creek has an average slope of approximately 110 feet per mile in its lower reaches. The valley width is nearly constant at about 1500 feet. The east fork and mainstream creek are perennial and the very small normal flows seem dwarfed by the size of the main channel, which has been enlarged 'and straightened by past major floods. The predominate vegitation within the channel are a few scrub willows and numerous large elm trees. The total area drained above Elbert is 65 square miles. B. Past Floods Kiowa Creek has endured more than its share of major cata- strophic floods, the most notable of which are discussed below. Most of the flood producing storms over the Kiowa Creek water- shed occur during the summer months of May through August. During this period, masses tif warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, comparitively dry air from the'polar regions combine over the higher ~and to cause increased thunderstorm activity. The severest storms often generate in the transitional periods of late spring and early fall when polar air intrusions are most intensive. Isolated summer thunderstorms are frequently severe but limited in the area covered. Available records indicate that snow melt has seldom con- tributed significantly to flood occurances on Kiowa Creek. 1. May 21, 1878 Flood The earliest recorded flood was that of May 21, 1878.' The following is quoted from the Co~orado Magazine of July, 1937. "Among the unsolved mysteries in Colorado's history is the disappearance of a standard gage Kansas Pacific (now Union Pacific) locomotive in the quicksands of Kiowa Creek****on the night of May 21, 1878. A sudden flood had destroyed the wooden bridge that crossed the usually dry channel a short time before 2 v .v'".' ~"",,,-,- "'"-.~""~-,-" ".-.., ~'.' ^ ,,,,,,--,.-.., '-r-'""~':^v~"'_' """""';_''''''''''''''~''~_'"'''.'-''''''''~-:'''"''~"<t--'''~"--.-''"-''=''''''I'Y".""'''"''''''''',~''P'''~?''''_'''''''''''''':'~.tP''''l'~'?:'''''!'>'"'f:',-:'J':~':'~''''~'~~~, .