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<br />Obstructions to floodflow <br /> <br />of Agriculture under sponsorship of the Hale Soil Conservation <br />District and the cIty of Wray. <br /> <br />There are oOllatural obstructioos tofloodflowiothe <br />North Fork Republican River flood plato through Wray. Obstructions <br />have beeo created by man's continued encroachment on the flood <br />plain. Examples of this condition are the bridges across the river <br />and millrace at Main and Adams Streets. These structures are <br />actually box culverts, which are sufficient for low water flows but <br />become inadequate during high flow periods. This situation is <br />further aggravated by buildings located at the channel edges <br />forcing floodwaters to flow ill a northeasterly direction down <br />Second Street. The millrace dam is a minor obstacle but is easily <br />overtopped during periods of high flow. <br /> <br />Flood warning and forecasting services <br /> <br />The following statement was furnished by the U.S. <br />Weather Bureau on flood warning services available for the North <br />Fork Republican River at Wray, Colorado: <br /> <br />Flood damage prevention measures <br /> <br />At the present time there is no specific flood <br />forecasting service for the North Fork Repub- <br />Iican River at Wray, Colorado. The area, <br />however, is within the effective range of the <br />Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR-3) facility at <br />Goodland, Kansas, Weather Bureau Office. This <br />installation provides information on location <br />of storms and areas of intense precipitation, <br />and through mass news media provides for broad- <br />casts of locations of possible flash flooding. <br />Improvement in this procedure is expected with <br />the installation of the more powerful radar at <br />Limon, Colorado. This radar, which is sched- <br />uled for operation in about two years, will <br />provide continuous information on precipitation <br />intensity and storm location and movement, and <br />a better coverage of the area for flash flood <br />warning. <br /> <br />Plaoned effective flood damage prevention measures have <br />not been taken in Wray with regard to high fJows occurring on the <br />North Fork Republican River. Businesses ~nd residences in the <br />flood plain have raised floors as a result of past flood e~p~ri- <br />~nce~ Jnd .lre effectively protected fro,,; :0\; to moderate flooding, <br />but no general protective measures for extreme events have been <br />accomplished. Floodingfromsideh111runoffinthetown,whichwas <br />a problem because of inadequate Channels and watercour~es to carry <br />the excess flow, has been relieved since 1961 by the completion of <br />a watershed treatment project which included six retarding dam~. <br />The dams have a total capao~ty of 340 acre~feet gnd were designed <br />to control the runoff from a lDO~year storm rainfall over the <br />3.0 square mile drainage area above the structures. The uncon- <br />trolled outlets through the structures were designed to limit the <br />outflow to the downstreamch<l.llnel capacities. The project was <br />"""v",,,upeul;>y the::'o'il l:onservation Service of the Department <br /> <br />Flood situation <br /> <br />Gaqinq station~. ReCords are available for two gaging <br />stations maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey on the North Fork <br />Republican River near Wray. The Colorado-Nebraska State line sta. <br />tion located approximately 16 miles east of Wray was established in <br />March 1931 and has been operating continuously since that time. <br />The station is sItuated on the right bank, 100 feet east of the <br />Colorado-Nebraska State lill" ~ltj a~...t'oximately one-half mile north <br />of U.S. Hi9hway34. lntermittentrecordsarealsoavailablefortlle <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />9 <br />