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'4""/ o.:.r...i. . . 79. Floods also disrupt tile irrir,ation "ater supply to lands lying outside the flood plain "hen rlivcrsion works are damaged, or when main canals are breached by overbank flow. Since about 90 percent of the land irrigated from the Arkansas River between Pueblo and John Hartin. Dam lies outside the flood plain, the adverse effect of floods is thus extended to thousands of acres of productive land that are not otheTl;ise flood problem areas. Reduction of crop yields due to disruption of the water supply is a function of the length of time diversion facilities are out of operation, crop patterns, and other variahles. The degree of damage suffered varics from a minor reduction in yield to complete crop failure in extreme cases. Although the condition is mitigated to a dcgree by irrigation wells on many farms, the composite problem and potential loss is significant. 80. Fortunately, most urban development along the river between Pueblo and John ~lartin Rcservoir has generally been on higher ground. A part of North La Junta including municipal water supply facilities and the city of La Junta arc subject to damage as discussed in para- graph 74. Las Animas is the most vulnerable of the urban developments sillce it is threatened by even minor floods, and a repetition of a flood of the maGni~ude of thc 1921 flood \1ould cause a major disaster. The serious floou prohlem at Las Animas will be solved hy the construction of the local flood protection project authorized by the 1965 Flood Con- trol Act and the Pueblo Dam. 81. F&OOD DN.MGES.- As reported by Follansbee and Jones in Water- Supply Paper No. 487, 1922, the Arkansas River flood of 3-5 June 1921 caused about $20 million damage (1921 prices and development). Flood losses "ere suffercd from the town of Florence, about 30 miles upstream from Pueblo, downstream to the vicinity of the Colorado-Kansas State line. The city of Pueblo sustained about 50 percent of reported damages including complete loss of more than 500 residences, the Hrecking of about~ ]00 buildings-, and- more than _60 buildings washed off foundations. Over 57 ,000 a~res of land downstream from Pueblo Here flooded. Seventy- eight bodies Here recovered in a short pcriod after the flood, but many "ere swept downstream to be buried in debris and silt and were never found. 82, The most general and severe flooding since the 1921 flood occurred in ~Iay 1955 and June 1965. The latter flood had the greater volume of the tHO, but peaks at La Junta and Las Animas were not as great as in 1955. Estimated losses from the two floods are tabulated in table 10. 83. Approximately 39,000 acres of land "ere inundated in May 1955 bet"een Pueblo and John Hartin Dam. Of the total, about 8,000 acres were cultivated, 22,000 Here in pasture and the remaining 9,000 acres were river channel and "asteland. Urban lands flooded consisted of about 250 acres at La Junta anu a fe" acres in Las Animas. Honetary losses totaled ahout $2 million, and the loss of two lives Has ascribed to the flood. 29