Rain, Rain Go Away?

A storm rolls in over Pueblo West.

Debris lays along the newly formed edge of Fountain Creek.

Southern Colorado had been suffering from drought conditions for almost ten years, then May 2015 arrived.

Sediment covers a bike trail along Fountain Creek in Pueblo.

According to the National Weather Service, parts of El Paso county have received anywhere from 8-10 inches of rain during the month of May. There have only been seven days in May that measurable precipitation has not fallen in Colorado Springs. With the years of drought like conditions and abnormally high amount of rain in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Fountain Creek, which originates in the mountain town of Woodland Park, pushes its way south through Colorado Springs, then further south to Pueblo and serves as a tributary to the Arkansas River. With the quick hitting storms and 24 days of rain Fountain Creek has overflowed its banks, eroded land, changed the course of the creek and created a clean-up problem for Pueblo. The complete impact the flooding and changing course of Fountain Creek may not be determined for months after the water recedes and the clean-up has taken place, but the one thing that is for certain, is that habitats have been altered, the landscape along the creek has been changed and work needs to be done to protect the integrity of the creek and it's surrounding areas in the future.

Debris litters areas of Fountain Creek where its banks have been breached and erosion has caused new channels to be formed.