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Twice in the last 85 years, in March 1955 and February 1962, ice jams caused water stages in the White River to reach Main Street between Co10row Street and Birch Avenue. These floods caused damage to homes, businesses, and public utilities. Ice jam floods have been observed as far back as 1891, when Rangely consisted of a saloon, blacksmith shop, store, and hotel. In the late summer of 1910 or 1911, a thunderstorm produced flood stages almost to the 1962 level. Another thunderstorm in the 1920s raised the White River to approximately the location of the Rangely Hotel, but the water was 1 foot lower than the 1955 flood. Two of the largest thunderstorms to produce local flooding occurred in August 1946 and July 1953. In the 1946 flood, one downtown office building had from 6 to 8 inches of water covering the floor. On July 31, 1953, 1.42 inches of rain was measured in slightly over 1 hour at the Rangely gage, and resultant local flooding washed out a road and tore away a bridge outside of Range1y. In town, runoff caused drainage ditches to overflow, and damage from the floodwaters was aggravated when the high water picked up oily mud from around a local oil well. Less than 2 years later, in March 1955, an ice jam in the White River caused the river to leave its banks, and at one time the town water supply was cut off when 6 feet of floodwater covered the water filtration plant. Water supply was aga1n interrupted by ice jams above and below the town in February 1962. The flood of February 1962 was the largest flood of record. In March 1966, another ice jam diverted the flow of the White River and several ranches experienced flooding. Most recently, flooding as a result of an ice jam occurred in March 1983. Local residents agree that damaging floods occur on the average of once every 7 to 10 years, with the majority resulting from ice jams. Shallow flooding, with water characteristically less than 3 feet deep, occasionally occurs in some southern portions of Rangely as a result of rampant thunderstorm runoff from ravines and washes. Due to a lack of streamflow records for the immediate vicinity of Rangely, data basic to estimating the frequency of past floods are not available. 2.4 Flood Protection Measures There are no Federal flood control projects affording protection to Rangely, and none are under consideration. Most new development in Rangely is being kept out of potential flood damage areas. College Canyon Draw has been channelized between South White Avenue and County Highway 2 to increase channel capacity. 6