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study. Flood events of the magnitude which are expected to be equaled or exceeded once <br /> on the average during any 10-, 50, 100-, and 500-year floods, have a 10, 2, 1, and 0.2 <br /> percent chance, respectively, of being equaled or exceeded during any year. Although <br /> the recurrence interval represents the long term average period between floods of a <br /> specific magnitude, rare floods could occur at short intervals or even within the same <br /> year. The risk of experiencing a rare flood increases when periods greater than 1 year are <br /> considered. For example, the risk of having a flood which equals or exceeds the 100-year <br /> flood (1 percent chance of annual occurrence) in any 50-year period is approximately 40 <br /> percent (4 in 10), and, for any 90-year period, the risk increases to approximately 60 <br /> percent (6 in 10). The analyses reported here reflect flooding potentials based on <br /> conditions existing in the county at the time of completion of this study. Maps and flood <br /> elevations will be amended periodically to reflect future changes. <br /> 3.1 Hydrologic Analyses <br /> Hydrologic analyses were carried out to establish the peak discharge-frequency <br /> relationships for each flooding source studied by detailed methods affecting the <br /> community. <br /> As part of the new detailed studies along the Arkansas River in at the City of <br /> Lamar, the Town of Granada, and Town of Holly, ICON Engineering, Inc. <br /> determined the 10-, 2-, 1-, and 0.2%-annual-chance peak discharges. The <br /> methodology for determining flows included both statistical analysis of gage data <br /> and regional regression equations. <br /> The methodology for statistical regression used the U.S. Army Corps of <br /> Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center's Statistical Software Package (HEC- <br /> SSP vl.0, Reference 13). This program calculates peak discharges from stream <br /> gage data using the Bulletin 17B methodology (reference 14). In order to <br /> maintain homogeneous hydrologic conditions, the gage record data were limited <br /> to water years after construction of the John Martin Reservoir in 1942. <br /> For the reach of the Arkansas River in Prowers County, statistical analysis of <br /> stream gage data with HEC-SSP was used to determine peak flows at the City of <br /> Lamar. The Arkansas River gage record at Lamar includes 62 years from 1944 to <br /> 2008. The gage record used in the initial analysis was limited to the years 1944 to <br /> 1982 to match the data used in the FIS. The HEC-SSP results were then <br /> calibrated to the FIS results by using a weighted skew factor of -0.12 and a <br /> regional skew MSE of 0.302. This regional skew factor is in agreement with the <br /> value indicated by the map for generalized skew coefficients found in Bulletin <br /> 17B. The gage record was then updated by adding the record for the years 1982- <br /> 2008 to the HEC-SSP model. Results of the analysis are shown in Table 4. The <br /> additional record data had the effect of significantly reducing flow values for the <br /> all storm frequencies in the updated model flows. <br /> Unlike the Lamar site, the Arkansas River stream gage records for Granada and <br /> 7 <br />