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<br />2.0 AREA STUDIED <br /> <br />2.1 Scope of Study <br /> <br />This study covers the incorporated area of the City of <br />Trinidad, located in Las Animas County, Colorado. The <br />area of study is shown on the Vicinity Map (Figure 1). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The primary flooding source for Trinidad is the <br />Purgatoire River, which flows from southwest to north- <br />east through the center of the downtown area. Within <br />the corporate limits, the Purgatoire River is fed by <br />the following six tributaries: Prospect Canyon, Pinon <br />Canyon, Portland Avenue Canyon, Fishers Peak Arroyo, <br />Carbon Arroyo, and Moores Canyon. Since all flows on <br />Carbon Arroyo were found to remain within banks, and <br />since flood hazards were considered insignificant along <br />Moores Canyon, these two tributaries were not studied <br />in detail. The remaining four tributaries were studied <br />in detail from their confluence with the Purgatoire <br />to the point of no overbank flow. The Purgatoire River <br />was studied in detail under the assumption, approved by <br />the Federal Insurance Administration, that the Trindad <br />Lake Project is in operation. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2.2 <br /> <br />Community Description <br /> <br />Trinidad, the county seat of Las Animas County, is <br />located in the fertile Purgatoire River Valley, about <br />14 miles north of Raton Pass on the Colorado-New Mexico <br />state line. The city was first incorporated in 1879; <br />the 1970 census reported populations of 9,901 for <br />Trinidad and 15,794 for Las Animas County. A slow but <br />steady growth is expected for the city and county in the <br />foreseeable future. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The North and Middle Forks form the Purgatoire "picket <br />Wire" River at their confluence, 29 miles west of <br />Trinidad. These streams have their source in the Sangre <br />de Cristo Mountains. Trinidad Dam controls the drainage <br />from approximately 671 square miles of the Purgatoire <br />Watershed. The study area encompasses about 90 square <br />miles of drainage area below the dam. Watershed eleva- <br />tions range from 14,047 feet atop Culebra Peak to <br />5,960 feet in Trinidad. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Diversified topography prevails in the region. In the <br />headwaters, streambed slopes are several hundred feet <br />per mile and, in the study area, average about 29 feet <br />per mile. Upstream from Trinidad, the "Picket Wire" <br />valley is narrow, varying in width from a few hundred <br /> <br />2 <br />