Friday, April 14, 2006

Rising Magic Reservoir threatens to overflow spillway

Flooding theatens Gooding and Lincoln counties


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Tom Chappell, of Richfield, inspects rising waters at Magic Reservoir. He said this is the highest water he's ever seen at the reservoir in early spring. Photo by David N. Seelig

As water levels on the Magic Reservoir on the Big Wood River continued to rapidly rise this week, residents downstream in Gooding and Lincoln counties braced for flooding.

"The reservoir's maintaining itself," Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough said Thursday afternoon. "It's really close to the spillway, but it's not going over yet."

Cooler temperatures later in the week bought threatened communities a reprieve. But it may be short-lived as storm fronts approached the Wood River and Magic valleys. Officials predict the impoundment in southern Blaine County will fill to capacity for the first time in a decade.

A flood watch issued by the National Weather Service remained in effect for Gooding County Thursday afternoon as the Big Wood River threatened to overflow.

"It's right at the bank, but it's below flood stage," said Scott Thompson, Gooding County building inspector. "Any more though and we'll be flooded."

Gooding residents filled and stockpiled sandbags, sheriff's officers made an assessment of threatened households and authorities made arrangements for emergency housing.

Residents were advised to stock up on food and potable water.

Thompson said Thursday that residents "breathed easier today," but remained vigilant.

"Basically, the whole town came together," he said. "It's really nice to see everyone working together like this."

South of Magic Reservoir, work crews shored up a road and dikes to keep water from the Big Wood River from flowing into the Cottonwood Slough, from where it could flow south into the Little Wood River, a circumstance that could cause flooding in Shoshone and downtown Gooding.

Magic Reservoir filled rapidly this spring as 3 feet of snow melted off the Camas Prairie, filling Camas Creek, which flows into the reservoir.

Camas County experienced spot flooding last week as swollen streams washed out culverts and bridges.

Camas County Planning and Zoning Administrator Earl Wilson said most of the snow is now gone but water is abundant across the prairie.

Centennial Marsh, just south of Hill City, is "knee-deep in water as far as you can see," he said. "Of course the birds were all out enjoying themselves. That's the most water I've seen in the marsh in years. It's quite extraordinary."

The National Weather Service in Pocatello is predicting a "pretty wet Pacific storm system setting up for the weekend," said meteorologist Mike Huston. Starting Saturday afternoon, snow accumulations in the Sawtooth Mountains could reach 9 inches.

Colder weather this weekend is expected to be replaced by warmer temperatures Tuesday or Wednesday, causing what Huston described as "hydro concerns."

"It can't hold much more," Huston said, referring to Magic Reservoir. He said the potential for flooding will likely continue through the next month as above-average snowpack melts off the mountains.

"We've got a lot of snow up there -- it's all got to go somewhere," he said.

According to the National Resources Conservation Service, snowpack in the Wood River and Lost River basins is 148 percent of normal.

On Thursday, snowpack on Galena Summit north of Ketchum was more than 101 inches, according to SnoTel, an online reporting service of the NRCS. That translates to 36.5 inches of water.




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