FLOOD10167

• Designation Number: 299
• County: Costilla
• Community: Unincorporated Costilla County
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Title: Floodplain Information Report - for the Rio Grande, Trinchera Creek, Culebra Creek, Colstilla Creek, and Selected Tributaries in Costilla County
• Date: 3/1/1989
• Designation Date: 11/1/1989
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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3. Prevent avoidable interruption of business and commerce;

4. Minimize victimization of unwary home .and land
purchasers; and

5. Facilitate the administration of flood hazard areas by
establishing requirements that must be met before use
or development is permitted.

The Soil Conservation Service maintains 3 manual snow
survey stations and 1 automatic station in Costilla County
which can be monitored in the spring for an indication of the
snowmelt runoff potential. There are also several such
stations monitoring snowpack in the upper Rio Grande basin.
This threat is reviewed statewide each spring by the Colorado
Division of Disaster Emergency Services.

The Office of the State Engineer, Division of Water
Resources, in cooperation with the National Weather Services
Central Forecast Office (NWS-CFO) in Denver, operates a
statewide flood warning system utilizing 78 stream gaging
stations that are part of the Colorado satelite-linked water
resources monitoring network. There are no such gages in
Costil1a County. but there are several such gages upstream of
Costilla County on the Rio Grande.

The NWS-CFO official in charge follows up by accessing the
satellite monitoring system database to evaluate flow
conditions for the affected watershed. Radar images may also
be used to determine intensity of precipitation. After
consulting with the NWS regional office and the appropriate
county sheriff or official spotters to verify hydrologic
conditions, either a flood "water" or a flood "warning" may be
issued. A warning means flooding is considered a possibility
and a watch means that flooding is considered imminent.

Community emergency preparedness agencies can use the
Flooded Area Maps in this report to develop or improve their
emergency response to these watches or warnings.

5.5 Measures that Minimize Impacts

Measures that minimize flood impacts are directed at
distributing the losses over time and over a greater number of
people. They do not prevent damage from occurring. Such
measures include flood insurance and tax supported disaster
relief in the form of low interest loans or grants.

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