Amid Drought, Explaining Colorados Extreme Floods

Flash floods in Boulder area may also have ties to fires and climate change.

A home and car are stranded after a flash flood in Coal Creek destroyed the bridge near Golden, Colorado, September 12, 2013. Scientists say drought, fires, and global warming may have helped spur the flood.
Photograph by Rick Wilking, Reuters

Brian Clark Howard National Geographic

Published September 14, 2013

This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues. University of Colorado, Boulder law school professor Brad Udall has long written and lectured about water issues in the American West, but this weeks Colorado floods have brought the subject to his doorstep. Four people have lost their lives in flooding this week that has engulfed swaths of Colorado and that has forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Udall, director of the University of Colorado, Boulders Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment says that the Boulder area (see map) has received more rain in the past three days (up to 15 inches, or 38 centimeters) than the previous precipitation record for a whole month. Udalls house sits about 30 feet (9 meters) from a creek that is normally dry this time of year. In the past two days, he said the creek rose more than five feet (1.5 meters), and has become a raging stream thats 20 feet (6 meters) wide. [Thursday] night I had a hard time going to sleep because of the ominous rumblings of large boulders tumbling down the creek bed, Udall said. His house narrowly escaped major damage, but many neighbors werent so lucky. U.S. President Barack Obama declared an emergency for Boulder, Larimer, and El Paso counties on Friday and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed four rescue teams to the area, the most ever in the state. Just as troubling as all the damage, Udall says, is that this weeks floods do not fit into the usual pattern of high water in the West. The floods were not the result of springtime rains or intense summer thunderstorms that quickly dump large amounts of rain in concentrated areas, such as the 1976 Big Thompson or 1997 Fort Collins floods. This was a totally new type of event: an early fall widespread event during one of the driest months of the year, Udall said. So what explains the anomaly? Sandra Postel, National Geographics Freshwater Fellow, said that the long-term drought that has parched the area and gripped much of the Colorado River Basin over the past 14 years may be partly to blame for the severity of the floods. Drought tends to harden the soil, she said. When rains do come, less of the water can absorb into the ground, so it quickly runs off the land.

Similarly, fires can lead to worse flooding, because they remove vegetation that can slow down and trap rainfall, Postel said. (See Fire and Rain: The One-Two Punch of Flooding After Blazes.) In 2012, the Boulder area was afflicted by the Flagstaff Fire. In 2010, the Fourmile Canyon fire caused damage to Boulder County worth $217 million. Scientists have warned that increasing frequency and severity of wildfires and droughts may be symptoms of climate change, as much of the planet warms. That, in turn, can lead to more floods. In June, President Obama told an audience at Georgetown University, Droughts and fires and floods, they go back to ancient times. But we also know that in a world thats warmer than it used to be, all weather events are affected by a warming planet. Udall said that while current science cant pin any particular extreme weather event to climate he change, this weeks flooding is likely a reflection of global warming, at least in part. The connection, he said, might be 10 percent or it might be 90 percent, but it isn't zero percent and it isnt 100 percent. Udall added that warmer air means more moisture can be held by clouds, which can lead to more rain.:As the climate warms further, the hydrologic cycle is going to get more intense. Between the fires last year and this year, the unprecedented and continuing drought in the Colorado River, and now this shocking event, he continued, climate change feels very real to me.

Summary During the past couple of years, Colorado has experienced some of the most extreme weather on record. Natural phenomena ranging from extreme drought and massive forest fires to torrential rainstorms and statewide flooding have changed the state in a drastic way. This past week the state experienced unprecedented amounts of rainfall, which caused major flooding in several of the states largest cities. Boulder, Colorado was one of the cities most affected by the storm, receiving its monthly rainfall in the span of three days. On the whole, throughout the state there have been four deaths as a result of the flooding. Furthermore, thousands of residents have been evacuated from their homes, leaving behind the bulk of their material possessions to be potentially sacrificed to the raging flood waters. With regard to cause, investigators have proposed theories with the intention of explaining the recent natural disasters. Although concrete scientific evidence is lacking, many theorists attribute the fires and floods to climate change. As the planet gets warmer, the possibility for extreme weather increases and the earths natural cycles are altered. In addition, it is important to recognize that natural disasters can be linked. For instance, when there is a drought a fire is sure to follow. The combined effects that both drought and fire have on the earth, such as hardening of the soil and increased impermeability, perpetuate the likelihood of flooding. Colorado is my home. I was born there and spent the first twenty-four years of my life living there with my family, exploring the pristine nature and wildlife that we were so blessed with. In the past years, things have changed more that I could have possibility imagined. Trees and houses have been charred, plants have withered up

and died, and peaceful streams have been transformed into torrential rivers that sweep away anything in their path. This article is significant to me because although I am not living in Colorado currently, I want to stay informed on what is happening in my home because that is where my loved ones are. The information found in this article is also relevant to Ecuadorians because the climate here in Quito is also extremely conducive to forest fires during certain seasons; therefore the topic of climate change, specifically regarding wildfires, is a common tie between the two places. Additionally, this article raises some broader, more global scientific concerns such as the effects of global warming on the entire planet as a whole. Colorado is just one example of the strange climate that we are experiencing on our planet these days.

Works Cited Howard, B. C. (2013, Sept.). Amid drought, explaining Colorados extreme floods. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.national geographic.com/news/2013/09/1130913-colorado-flood-boulder-climate -change-drought-fires/