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.. JAN 127987 In COLOIi'A VI CONSERVA~gNwAT!1i' BOARD During the winter of 1972-73, etorm ev~nts over southwest Colorado and over parts of Utah culminated in a much above average snow cover. Water content of the snowpack exceeded previous records in Some areas. The major storm events deposited an unusually heavy snowfall in the low and intermediate elevations of the watersheds. Peak runoff occurred during May for the intermediate watersheds, and during early June for the higher drainages. Peak flow rates were not record breaking, but high enough to cause significant damages in some areas. The most signi- ficant flooding occurred along the Animas River in Colorado, and on the Sevier River, Payson Creek and Pinto Creek in Utah. Many tributary streams exceeded channel capacities, particularly at higher elevations; however damages from these overflows were not great. The most signifi- cant damage occurred at Payson, Utah where high flows augmented by the failure of Box Reservoir Dam, an earth structure located on Peteetneet Creek flooded the town with up to 3 feet of water. SYNOPSIS During the 1973 snowmelt runoff period about 12,600 acres of land were inundated by stream overflow, and flood damages estimated at about $3,765,000 occurred. Public facility losses, estimated at $2,505,000, comprised the largest category, followed by agricultural damages estimated at $861,000. The cost of emergency repair and restoration of flood damaged facilities, performed under continuing authority of the Corps of Engineers, waS approximately $522,000. There are four Corps of Engineers flood control projects in the Great Basin area and none in the Upper Colorado Basin. One of the Great Basin Corps projects, the Redmond Channel Improvement on the Sevier River, provided an estimated $20,000 in flood control benefits during the snowmelt runoff period. Emergency flood control and damage restora- tion work by the Corps of Engineers was performed as follows: on the Mancos and Animas Rivers and on Hermosa Creek in Colorado; on the Animas River near Aztec, New Mexico; and in Utah, on Coal Creek at Cedar City; on Shoal Creek near Enterprise; on Newcastle Dam and Pinto Creek near Newcastle; on Corn Creek at Kanosh; on Red Creek at Paragonah and on Payson Creek near Payson. Land treatment and other watershed protection measures implemented by the U. S. Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service also prevented substantial damages from occuring at downstream locations. No attempt was made to evaluate these benefits, as they are beyond the scope of this report. ' There are several authorized Bureau of Reclamation multipurpose reservoir projects in the Upper Colorado and Great Basin areas. These projects have flood control space allocated, on a forecast basis, only during the snowmelt runoff. Damages prevented by these projects during the snowmelt runoff are estimated at $419,000.