From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
A proposal for the $570,000 study was presented to the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District board last week, and will build on previous studies to develop strategies for managing flows on Fountain Creek. “These models would evaluate the volume of water and the timing,” [David Mau, of the Pueblo U.S. Geological Survey office] said. “We’ll look at what’s needed to avoid overtopping the levees through Pueblo…It’s not the type of consulting engineering report that’s going to tell you how to design and build structures. It doesn’t deal with water rights. It just tells you what the hydrologic model looks like.” That most likely would mean studying diversions into side detention ponds and projects on tributaries, Mau said.
But the model would be capable of looking at a dam on the mainstem of Fountain Creek, part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ original recommendation to protect Pueblo after the 1965 flood. It also could look at alternatives such as diversion structures that could move part of the peak flow into Chico basin to the east. “Once we get it calibrated, the model is capable of doing that,” Mau said.
The Fountain Creek board is deliberating whether to partner with USGS in the study, using money from Colorado Springs Utilities under the 1041 agreement with Pueblo County.