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<br />B1\CKGROUNDINFORMATION
<br />
<br />The Cuchara" River valley is divided topographically into
<br />thr,,<! s~ction", th" llIOuntainous headwater section above La V<:ta with
<br />
<br />setU"",ent
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<br />deep and narrow gorges; and comparatively wide alluvial valley S~" 30
<br />miles long below La veta, and a canyon sectio~ through which the
<br />CUchar.." River flows to its confluence with the Ilued"no Riv<!r.
<br />
<br />W~l$enhurg, county scat of Huerfano County, is located in
<br />south-central Colorado. It is on Interstate 25, approximately 49
<br />miles south of Pueblo and 37 miles north of Trinidad. The area is
<br />n~stled in the foothills of the S"ngre de Cristo Mountain range at
<br />an elevation of 6,162 feet.
<br />Walsenburg and the surrounding area were first settled by
<br />Spanish Americ~ns who migrated from what is now New Mexico. Origin-
<br />ally named Plaza de Los Leones after the padron, Don Miguel ~tonio
<br />Leon, Walsenburg acquired its present name in 1613 in honor of F~ed
<br />Walsen, a ~espected trader of the area. He w~s largely responsible
<br />for the influx of the German population into the community and the
<br />tempo~ary prosperity of the area. With his realization of the po-
<br />tentialforthecoalindustry,Wals..nburgenteredintoaneraof
<br />un.pr"~e,knt,,d growth, including th.. incorporation of the city on
<br />
<br />In the mountainous upper reaches above La veta, the ~lopc
<br />of the river is several hundred feet per mile, changing to an average
<br />of about 55 feet per mile in the reach between La veta and Walsenburg,
<br />
<br />Jun" 16, 1873. The arrival of the railroad in Huerta"o County in
<br />1876 brought with it e new population, mainly of European extra~-
<br />tion, to work in the coal mines.
<br />l.~ the <:e:ll indu::;try i:'l the ,,:,ea be<jan to d",>li"", f\"""'-
<br />fano County and Walsenburg were no longer able to sustain the degree
<br />of prosperity and prestige which had been associated with the boom
<br />era of the mines.
<br />
<br />and to "" a"e~age of about -40 feet per mile below W..ls"nbu~9. Gener-
<br />ally, the streambed is composed of sand, with very little vegetation
<br />along its banks.
<br />The headwater seotion above La Veta contains 75 squa~e
<br />miles and is very mountainous, reaChing an altitude of approximately
<br />14,000 feet above me"" sea level. tn this section the vC9"tation ~"Q"~
<br />sists principally of aspen, pinon, fir, oak brush, and native grassea.
<br />The el~va~ion of the watershed near the mouth of ~h~ river is about
<br />5,250 fe.,c. The ""qetation Oil the plains below La veta =,,~~::;tc
<br />principally of sagebrush, cactus, sparse native gr~"se" and such other
<br />plants as are found in a semiarid region.
<br />snowfall is heavy in the mountainou" regions, but the
<br />grcater,t precipitation normally occurs as rain in the late sp~ing
<br />and summer months. ~verage annual rainfall ~n ~ue~fano County is
<br />14.13 inches and an average annual snowfall of 69.0 inches. The
<br />''''J'\Jal mean temperature for lluet"fano county is 50.2 d~gr..e9 rahren-
<br />
<br />hdt.
<br />
<br />The Stream and Its Valley
<br />The Cueharas River rises in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
<br />
<br />about 35 miles west of Walsenburg and flows 62 miles in a general
<br />north-easterly direction through ~uerfano and Pueblo Counties to
<br />join th.. lluerfanoRlver about 30",11"8 abov..iU mouth. The Cueharns
<br />River Basin is about 50 mIles long and has a maximum width of about
<br />20 miles. It comp~ises an ~rea of about 735 square miles. The d~ain~
<br />age area above t~c lower limit of ~he study is 136.06 square ~iles.
<br />
<br />Developments on the Flood Plains
<br />Exiatinq developments on the flood plains in the study area
<br />are primarily residential but include commerci~l and indust~ial devel~
<br />opments. Larqe amounts of the flood plains are rural land. Although
<br />large areaS of open space exist, limited flood plain development is
<br />"nticip.~ted in che future because of t.he c<mtt"ols i.mpo~ed hy the flood
<br />i"S"~M1C" prograJl\.
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