NWS ABQ - 2013 September Flooding-Guadalupe County

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Rainfall Summary: September 10-18, 2013

The table below is a comprehensive list of the more significant precipitation reports that were received for the 9-day event period.

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Location (source)	Precipitation Total (in)
Vaughn (HCN)	2.55

Impact Summary

Location	Date	Summary
Santa Rosa	09/11/2013	Law enforcement and emergency management reported major flooding along El Rito Creek and at Power Dam. NM 91 was closed between mile markers 0 and 9. The El Rito Creek South Bridge was nearly topped. Large chunks of concrete from Power Dam were destroyed. A railroad bridge over El Rito Creek was compromised and engineers closed rail traffic to assess the bridge. Extensive damage was done to nearby Park Lake Trail. A bridge carrying a water line to Puerto de Luna was extensively damaged. Low lying areas near Brush Dam were flooded in Puerto de Luna. Extensive road damaged has occurred to city and county roads.
Santa Rosa	09/11/2013	Blue Hole Road closed due to flooding. The Santa Rosa golf course and a pump house flooded with extensive damage. Entire golf course was under water. Flooding was also reported near the KSRR transmitter.
Santa Rosa	09/11-09/12/2013	Widespead heavy rainfall and flooding around Santa Rosa led to a near record crest on the Pecos River at Puerto de Luna. The crest peaked at 35,800 cfs at 615pm on the 11th, which is the 2nd highest crest ever observed going back to 1942. The gage was above flood state for several hours.
Colonias	09/17/2013	The Gallinas River at Colonias was above action stage for several days and above flood stage between around 330am and 1130am on the 17th. Low lying areas around the river were flooded. This flood wave surged downstream from Colonias toward Santa Rosa Lake.

Hydrologic Summary

The Pecos River near Anton Chico crested at 8.85 feet (4,770 cfs) at 115pm MDT September 11, 2013. This event does not fall within the top 18 record events at this location. The record crest is 24 feet set back on September 29, 1904. No significant flooding was observed immediately along the Pecos River near Anton Chico however numerous tributaries leading into this area flooded. Action stage is 12 feet, minor flood stage 15 feet, moderate flood stage 20 feet, and major flood stage 24 feet.

The Gallinas River near Colonias crested at 28.41 feet (29,507 cfs) at 545am MDT September 17, 2013. This is now the highest crest ever observed at this location breaking the previous record crest of 27.2 feet on June 1, 1937. Significant flooding was observed along the Gallinas River however no impacts were reported to residential and transportation infrastructure. Action stage is 12 feet and minor flood stage 16 feet. There has been no determination of moderate and major flood stages.

The Pecos River near Puerto de Luna crested at 15.27 feet (36,200 cfs) at 1245pm MDT September 11, 2013. This is now the 2nd highest crest for this location and compares to the record crest of 17 feet set back on September 1, 1942. Significant flooding was observed within this area. Action stage is 10 feet and minor flood stage 11 feet. There has been no determination of moderate and major flood stages.

Photos

Pecos River near Colonias

Debris well-above the bank of the Pecos River near Colonias.

The effect of the 28.4 foot stage on the Pecos near Colonias (see hydrograph above) is apparent in the photos by the width of the mud flow on both sides of the Pecos River.