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0:2192 - 7 - Agriculture and coal mlnlng are the principal industries in the county. Livestock production, particularly sheep and cattle ranching, dominates the agricultural economy. Other industries in the Trinidad area include manufacturing, clay mining, and lumbering. Within the watershed area, livestock grazing is the principal agricultural activity. There are portions of six operating ranch units in the watershed. All lands outside the urban area are privately owned. The Trinidad area is served by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and the Colorado and Southern Railway. U. S. Highways 85-87, 160, and 350 reach Trinidad from the north, south, and east. Colorado State Route 12 serves the area west of Trinidad along the Purgatoire River valley. WATERSHED PROBLEMS The principal problem in this watershed is the high rate of runoff from the steeply sloping lands above the City of Trinidad. During high intensity thunderstonns, this runoff results in extensive floodwater, sediment, and erosion dmnages to commercial buildings, streets, bridges, railroads, and agricultural land along Fishers Peak and Carbon Arroyos in and adjacent to the City of Trinidad. The principal source of the damaging sediment is from gully and streambank erosion. The areas subject to significant damages are shown on Figures 1 and 4. Estimates of average annual damages are presented in Table 7. Floodwater Damage Intense thunderstorms in the summer months are the cause of frequent flooding on Fishers Peak and Carbon Arroyos. Newspaper files and information obtained from local residents indicate that damaging floods occurred in the watershed in 1874, 1901, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1918, 1937, 1941, 1942,1948, and 1958, The available evidence shows that the floods of 1874, 1901, 1918, 1941, and 1958 were the cause of the most serious damage, On Fishers Peak Arroyo, business establishments in the vicinity of the stream channel, where it enters the closed conduit, have been severely damaged by overbank flows in excess of the conduit capacity. The excess floodwater flows through the buildings into Main Street. The water then flows down Commercial and adjacent streets and into the Purgatoire River. Stores and other buildings along these streets are subject to considerable damage fram this over- flow water. During past floods, debris (consisting of brush and trees originating primarily from the wooded areas in the upper watershedlhas clogged bridge openings and the entrance to the conduit, thereby causing d,amaging overbank flow when discharges were materially less than normal channel capacities.