FLOOD09193

• Designation Number: 579
• County: Gunnison
• Community: Marble and Vicinity
• Stream Name: Crystal River
• Basin: Gunnison
• Title: Floodplain Information Report - Crystal River - Marble and Vicinity
• Date: 8/1/2004
• Prepared For: Marble and CWCB
• Prepared By: Icon Engineering, Inc.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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Supplemental background information and assistance in project coordination
was supplied by the CWCB.

1.4 Previous Studies

One detailed floodplain study was previously completed for the Crystal River
in the vicinity of the Town of Marble, Colorado. In 1979, Wright Water
Engineers, under contract to Pitkin County and the Colorado Water
Conservation Board, completed a report entitled "Floodplain Information
Report, Crystal River and Coal Creek, Pitkin County, Colorado" (Reference 4).
This report included detailed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for the Crystal
River in Pitkin County. The upstream limit of the 1979 study is approximately
six miles downstream of the Town of Marble and approximately three miles
downstream of the downstream limit of this study at the County Road 3 bridge.

A Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM), dated June 17, 1977, was previously
developed for the Town of Marble and Gunnison County by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Insurance
Administration (Reference 5).

2.0 AREA STUDIED

2.1 Scope of Study

This Floodplain Information Report covers a reach of the Crystal River within
the Town of Marble and portions of unincorporated Gunnison County,
Colorado. For this report, the Crystal River has been studied using detailed
methods for a reach of approximately 4.5 miles in length. The study reach
extends from just downstream of the Gunnison County Road 3 bridge to
upstream of the Beaver Lake State Fishing Area.

2.2 Community Description

Gunnison County is located in central-western Colorado, approximately 130
miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming state line. The Town of Marble is
located in northwestern Gunnison County. The Town of Marble was founded
in 1881 by settlers and prospectors and was officially incorporated in 1899.
The peak population of Marble occurred from 1912 to 1917, when the town
supported a population of around 1,400 people. Currently, the population of
Marble is around 300 people. One of the world's largest concentrations of
marble is located in the mountains immediately to the south of the Town
which was the source of the town's name and growing economy in the early
1900's.

ICON Engineering, Inc.
August 2004

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