Northern Colorado Flood Oral History Collection

For six days in September 2013, historic levels of rain fell over much of the Northern Colorado Front Range causing massive flooding and landslides that damaged homes, businesses, farms, and irrigation structures. Recognizing the significance of the flood, researchers at the Public Lands History Center at Colorado State University (CSU) interviewed 35 officials and professionals with direct responsibility for flood management and recovery during the 2013 disaster, hoping that knowledge gleaned from their experiences might assist managers during future flood events.

The conditions for the 2013 flood developed in early September as monsoonal air from Mexico arrived in drought-parched and fire-ravaged Colorado. Rather than moving onto the Western Slope, as anticipated, the air mass moved east, and historic levels of high-elevation rain fell over a wide geographic area from Colorado Springs to Laramie, Wyoming. All of Northern Colorado's watersheds from the mountains east to Nebraska experienced flooding. Flooding and landslides killed eight people, temporarily or permanently displaced thousands of people, and caused over $2 billion in damage to private and public property.

The 2013 Northern Colorado Oral History Flood Project was a collaborative effort between the Water Resources Archive at CSU's Morgan Library and CSU's Public Lands History Center (PLHC), funded by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). The three entities recognized the value of capturing first-hand accounts of the 2013 flood. Based on the CWCB's interest, principal investigator Dr. Ruth Alexander and project coordinator Naomi Gerakios Mucci focused the project on people who managed emergency resources and directed recovery efforts rather than on flood victims; other oral history projects in Boulder County focused on victims. From June to August 2014, Gerakios Mucci and three research associates interviewed climate scientists, water and stormwater managers, municipal and county administrators, dam engineers, emergency managers, search and recovery personnel, disaster relief personnel, and park managers, many of whom were still dealing with the flood's aftermath. After recording and transcribing the interviews, Alexander and Gerakios Mucci wrote a report for the CWCB and gave several presentations to state water organizations. The interviews, reports, and associated materials were then transferred to the Water Resources Archive.