Spring Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 25, 2011 tributary of the

Cache La Poudre River The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...

in the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Spring Creek begins north of

Horsetooth Mountain Horsetooth Mountain is a mountain summit in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The peak is located in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, west ( bearing 265°) of downtown Fort Collins in Larimer Coun ...

within Horsetooth Mountain Park just west of

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

, and flows into

Horsetooth Reservoir Horsetooth Reservoir (often known locally as Horsetooth) is a large reservoir in southern Larimer County, Colorado, in the foothills just west of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles (1 ...

After leaving Horsetooth Reservoir out of Spring Canyon Dam, Spring Creek flows through central Fort Collins just south of

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

For most of its passage through the city, it is paralleled by the city-maintained Spring Creek Trail. The Spring Creek Trail follows Spring Creek through several parks in mid Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort Collins. It currently extends from Spring Canyon park at the southern end of Overland Trail to the confluence of Spring Creek and the Poudre River where it joins the Poudre Trail. The Spring Creek Trail extends through a new underpass of Taft Hill Road. This highly popular trail continues to Spring Canyon Community Park and the Pineridge Natural Area. The Spring Creek Trail is 6.6 mile

Spring Creek flood of 1997

From July 27 to July 28, 1997, 14.5 inches of rain fell within the city of Fort Collins, causing Spring Creek to flow over its banks and into surrounding communities. The

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

transformed this tiny creek into a torrent, killing five people and causing an estimated $200 million worth of damage to public and private property, making this event the city's worst natural disaster. The campus and academic buildings of Colorado State University was also severely damaged. Soon after the floods, President Clinton issued disaster declarations for 13 counties affected by the flood event, including Larimer County, which received $5.2 million in aid from FEMA for individual assistance. Colorado State University received $1.2 million in aid from FEMA to pay for repairs to damaged buildings. A hydrometeorological study revealed that the Horsetooth reservoir, which rose 50 cm in response to the flood, produced a significant flood reduction benefit.Hydrologic analysis of the Fort Collins, Colorado, flash flood of 1997, F.L. Ogden, H.O. Sharif, S.U.S. Senarath, J.A. Smith… – Journal of Hydrology, 2000. The Spring Creek flood spawned a national weather-watcher program called

CoCoRaHS The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS, is a network of volunteer weather observers in the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas that take daily readings of precipitation and report them to a central data store over ...

, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, which uses volunteers to measure rain, hail and snow.

References

External links

* http://www.ci.fort-collins.co.us/parks/trails.php * http://www.cocorahs.org/ * Fort Collins Flood Warning System Gages on Spring Creek
Spring Creek at Taft HillSpring Creek at BNRRSpring Creek at Prospect Road
{{authority control Rivers of Colorado Rivers of Larimer County, Colorado Geography of Fort Collins, Colorado Tributaries of the Platte River

Spring Creek flood of 1997

See also

References

External links