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<br />Only a year after _ and .mndslideslnlUetOd $31
<br />millioD in. daD1a:ge ~ver 20 Colorado counties. fOrecasters
<br />are pre<licllng possible ..,ater shortag.. and anlDcreaSlng
<br />danger of forest fires: In parts of the state thfa summer.
<br />. Denver and _ Colorado - everythlnglo Il!o .
<br />South Platte River basin - are the most 1ike1J ~ to be
<br />affected by Water shortages. said Larry LaiJg of..1l!o
<br />Colorado Water Conservation Board..
<br />FloOding and slides are unlikely in an but south ceutral .
<br />"and west ceiltral Colorado this. ,ear because of a driet
<br />wiister and Iighte,r snowpack in ~e mountains.
<br />Bnt the 1acl<0I molsture.. conId turn llllr1hern forests to
<br />tinder and dry np prodncllve form and ranch lands east
<br />, and west of the mountains. . ':
<br />None are foregone conclusloas. Bay state and federid
<br />cnstodians oI'lb.1alIds. Spring Is yoWlg and there Is the
<br />possibility of mote snow and the usual pattern of spring
<br />showers.
<br />. Even so; Lang thi:oks "~e're gomg.to have water short-
<br />~ges in some places later this St1ItlD1et." .
<br />"Some streams are low enough that they could impact
<br />some 'water.. rights," said Lang.. Snowpacl< along BoUlder
<br />Creek and the Sl Vrain River. both SOOth Platte tribtttar-
<br />'\es;.~..3~. ~t below the 2o-year aV&'age.
<br />~~~erslo.~:Colo<ado are ..
<br />'-,'OuT ~Ja are tuD lor future -,so."'-
<br />not ill a,4eva5tating situatiOn:W"'~ we -haVe little snow-
<br />~.,.,,,,~,.,:~~-Utt1e water in tbe reservoirs," ~d Logan CoWl-'
<br />'. . . 'y Extension Agent Clirt Probert' ..
<br />AS FOR drylaod farming, Probe)'! said ''wheatlS hi
<br />good COPdition with good soD. molsture, but Ji we dOJi't get
<br />r:ain by early May, it could suffer." Grasslands, too, need
<br />rain as soon as possible. .
<br />"Some of our people on the eastern side of the state. are
<br />~ed about submo~ in the soU drying ont... said
<br />Don Ralston. executive vice president of the Colorado
<br />Cattlemen's Association. .
<br />The dry spring already has raise<! fue danger on lbe
<br />rangelaods 10 "moderate to high. eVen extremely- ~ if
<br />. the ~ pick up," said Darrell &nitb of the U.s. Forest
<br />Service fire management office. , '
<br />Although sporadic spring showus could lessen tbe p0-
<br />tential threat, that doesn't allaY Smith's fears becatlse of
<br />Iong..lerJn clryness-
<br />Two fires' in the Roosevelt National Fqrest, probably
<br />touched off by Ughtolng aed spread by the Wind. deStroyed
<br />almost 300 acres o~ grass and timber ,tn,tb'e' Poudre'
<br />CaI!yOD area 15 miles northwest of Fort COllins last: week.
<br />" ,- '~e'tire danger b),higher elevations. from the fO:OthUls
<br />. OJI.-.oo 8.500 feet, rises' the farther north :you go," said
<br />Bmith. "South of Cheesman,ReServoir (Southwest of Den..
<br />over) the. danger is low because 'of the heavy 5Dowstorm .a
<br />COUple weeks ago."
<br />Between: Cheesman and.1uterstate 70j fire danger is low
<br />to moderate. North of 1-10 it Is mcideta1e to bfgh "and
<br />. conId go to very high because of the low Diols1nre:' said
<br />SmlIh. . .
<br />The WesterD. SloPe. too,' Is endangeredbecanse "theY
<br />haven't had a ~ot of moisture." " .
<br />UST YEAR. SllOWpack aroUnd most.<>I1he _ Was
<br />130 Percent -to 140 per.cent of average, and swelled to i60
<br />percent after ,\priI snowstorms. TIIa~..c>>npled wi1l1
<br />_...verage June lemperatures. and soiIo still ~tuiated:
<br />from ~ previous aU~ caused the he:avY runoffs and
<br />mudslides. .'"
<br />"There's -. . buildup of ground moIs(ere since 1981,
<br />and it looks like ~ pattern is holding up." ,said Pat
<br />Hog=. chje! of eng;neering and _I'geology
<br />for tb.e,C,olerado Geological SUrvey. "We are seefog water
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<br />. " IJBIWIY FLEIRocky t40UntWn Nfta
<br />Silding mud and debrls from Snow meitd~maged this home last year near the Vail golf course.'
<br />
<br />State prepares for mudslide threaf
<br />
<br />. .' caused more ~D $100 mUli9Q in damage.
<br />BYDEBORAH FRAZIER The second largest (lOtenllal slide Is one,,;ne 1<!IJg
<br />Rocky.Mountaln News Staff Writer and_ named fOJ" the Meadow Moun:tain' area, between'
<br />Dowd Junctlon. aed _ Tllat slide already 'li>s
<br />chewed np sections of lIigbwey U. said RaId. .
<br />. The two other eJides. Dowd I and Dowd 2, are
<br />smaller and focated he1weee the two hlg slide areas.
<br />. The area has lleen active for mudslides in -the past
<br />and Hold said the WhIskey .Cr<ck slide prohehly
<br />~ed the Eagle River 5,000 tQ O;OOO.years ago...
<br />The monitoring program will be set np jelnlIy by.the
<br />Geological Survey. 1I1e 51ate'-Hlghway Departtnen~ the
<br />Department of LOOafAffeln. Eag!e CollD\Y..tIie slate .
<br />olli<o 01 DIsaster Emergeney ServIce. lb. Water CoIl-
<br />ser:vation BOar4 and the state eri~ office. ~ -
<br />".The hfpway department has drilled. four boles ,at a
<br />. deplb of SO to 100 lcello lbe lllOlo slideS. and pot 10
<br />. another olghl to 10 electronic.....ey p(jiJds, .
<br />Rald.said anot!ler 10 mooItorbJli hoI..:willbedr;lJed.
<br />.' tw""ty..five ,additional .....er statli>\ls.are 10 be
<br />1ilsla!Jed and. the whole monilorlng.syslemshonld."",
<br />main In place through .ex; spriIig.. . :
<br />"TheSe sIldes have_ sitting ~.lor 5,000 y~
<br />Someday they. will come down ,:abd we doo't bow
<br />when. The odds may be one in a b\mdte4 or ODe in a
<br />thousand. We can't teD,"saJd Rold. . .'
<br />. "/lnt tlle potential for a serlons _. pr<>bIem lS
<br />so great yon can~ afford DOt to react," be oaJd.. ..
<br />
<br />No one appreciates a disaster. but at least the (cur.
<br />IlO\entilil mudslides along the Eag!e!liVer west 01 Vail
<br />have given state ilUielals adequate warning. .
<br />Beca~ of aD April 4 memo to Gov. Rkhard D.
<br />Lamm from state geologist Jo~ Rold on the rons of '
<br />.muck easing down mounta1nil betweeJ;l Dowd Junction
<br />and Minturn, an interagency task force will have more
<br />'. than three' d.... monitoring. statlons 10 place by the
<br />eedol'\priL. '.
<br />"'Tbe monitoring Will-give us the.maximum,.amo_oot
<br />of warning possible; if ope Of the sli~ should.begin to
<br />move," said Rold. - , .
<br />,In the worst-case scenario. the largest sUde woold
<br />move at sa: to seven feet au hour.'pusll-~ Iv.mdred
<br />acres oj mud into tbe river and create a :OlJ-foot dam
<br />n~r Eagle-Van, be said. ' : .
<br />"People .could walk away from it Jt wouldD't catch'
<br />people Db the bipway OJ' ill houses, but it .would dam
<br />.!be Eagle River to a depth of one hundred to two
<br />hundred feet.and 1I1e....ter ...Dld back np loto Minturn
<br />and east Vllil." said Raid. :
<br />The largest slide; . meesurlng 2..5 IIliIea lo.g and
<br />dubbed WhIskey Creek, dwarfa the 'I'hIstle. Utah mud-
<br />sIlde of 11>&3 thai' Dooded thetley Utah town and
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