FLOOD09060

• County: Statewide
• Community: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Statewide River Rehabilitation and Flood Plain Management Needs Inventory
• Date: 2/18/1998
• Prepared For: State of Colorado
• Prepared By: McLaughlin Water Engineers, Ltd.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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Provide Technical Assistance to Community Leaders. Community and landowners need assistance in
formulating and planning their river or stream rehabilitation projects. Floodplain management must be
expanded to include stream rehabilitation/stabilization, habitat and riparian zone preservation/enhancement,
and flood hazard mitigation. Eighty eight percent of the respondents cited one more problems relating to
stream corridors or local flooding. This high percentage indicates a recognition that flooding is a natural
function of this portion of the watershed. However, this function is in direct conflict with historic practices
of man's decision to place certain types of structures in this portion of the watershed.

Fundine Imolementation Needs. Most communities desire local level funding for their projects. However,
communities and counties identified that local funds are unavailable or insufficient to support stream
corridor projects. Thirty six percent of the respondents indicated lack of funding was the primary obstacle
to planning and implementing improvements. Economic factors have affected many communities due to
the rapid influx of new residents who want daily life sustaining needs to be provided including water
supplies, water treattnent, streets, other utilities. These demands frequently consume all the fiscal and staff
resources of communities. As a result, floodplain and stream corridor planning and management is pushed
to a lower priority until natural flooding occurs which leave no alternative but to deal with floodplain
survival rather than management. Unfortunately, when such events have passed, the need to prepare for
the next event is often forgotten as evidenced by seventy percent of the respondents stating they do not have
a funding mechanism or if they do, it is inadequate to deal with current conditions. There needs to be an
effective program for administration of grants for planning activities and loans for floodplain and stream
corridor project implementation and construction. There is also a need for fiscal resources to assist in flood
related emergency response and post-flood land acquisition to assist in relocating property owners from
the floodplain to alternate locations.

Public Information/Technical Assistance Needs. Community leadeh need a better understanding of the
basics of how stream corridors function to support decision making processes, investigations, and
compliance investigations. The respondents indicate an immediate need for mapping 460 miles of
unmapped l00-year floodplain area. This has been conservatively estimated to be approximately 1500
miles statewide. As Colorado's population continues to increase, this need will also expand. Twenty
percent of respondents believed floodplain maps need updating. Many of the maps were originally
prepared in the early 1970's and contained limited or inaccurate information. Community managers and
stakeholders need technical information on stream rehabilitation and stabilization. With man's increased
pressure to utilize floodplains and steam corridors for other uses, the need to accurately predict where
certain levels of flow will reach becomes imperative to insure human and natural uses do not conflict.
Man's presence must accommodate the stream's need to also occupy portions of the floodplain, since flood
waters exercise a very real presence with no opportunity for negotiation.

VII-2

97-06(LOOl