First Meeting for the 2009/10 Year of CoGO

The first CoGO meeting for Fall 2009 will be a field trip on Saturday, September 19th to the Big Thompson Basin in Larimer County, Colorado led by Dr. Bob Jarrett. We will visit about six sites to discuss flooding such as the 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood, which killed 144 people and is one of the greatest in loss of life in Colorado’s history. We also will visit the area flood area affected by the 1982 Lawn Lake Dam Failure in Rocky Mountain National Park. In addition, we will visit the site of the 2002 Bobcat wildland fire and post-fire flooding near Drake.

During the fieldtrip we will discuss the hydrometeorologic conditions of the these floods, describes some of the advances in U.S. Geological Survey flood science as a consequence of the 1976 disaster, which provides a reminder that such floods will occur again. Important contributions to flood science as a result of the 1976 flood include development of paleoflood methods to document the number, magnitude, and age of floods that occurred prior to streamflow monitoring, which are used to improve flood-frequency estimates, help improve flood warning systems, and validating the critical-depth method for improving estimates of extreme flood discharges in higher-gradient rivers.

Trip Details:

• Participation is limited to 20 people total. We will have a 14 passenger van and will allow a few personal vehicles. So if you are interested please reply to temmanuel@telesto-inc.com immediately.
• Denver Participants, meet at the Cold Springs Park and Ride at 8:30am (click here for a map). Leave by 8:45am.
• Boulder Participants meet at the Wagon Road Park and Ride (click here for a map) and get picked up by van at ~9:15am
• Fort Collins Participants meet at the Safeway in Loveland 2321 W Eisenhower Blvd Loveland, CO 80537-3151 (click here for a map) and get picked up by ~9:45am.
• We expect to be back to the Loveland Safeway by 4pm, the Wagon Road Park and Ride by 4:30pm, and Denver by 5pm.
• Bring a lunch, and clothing that will work for summer to winter time temperatures.
• Dr. Jarrett is preparing some handouts for everyone to use during the fieldtrip
• More details will follow to all participants.