For Bellevue residents, the question might not be if parts of the city will flood this spring, but when.
Bellevue City Administrator Tom Blanchard told the City Council Thursday, April 27, that the city has two areas prone to flooding in years of high water.
The first potential trouble spot is the area north of the Broadford Bridge, Blanchard said. He said a major dike built along the Big Wood River north of the bridge in 1984 doesn't allow water to properly enter the floodplain.
The dike could potentially lead to gravel bars building up against the Broadford Bridge and restricting flows underneath it, Blanchard said.
"It's too narrow to carry the entire flood capacity," he said. "We expect there may be water over that in a high water event."
Blanchard said the second potential trouble spot is in the area of Riverside Estates, which is located south of the Broadford Bridge and west of state Highway 75. Blanchard said he has already seen minor flooding there along Riverside Drive.
"I can tell you that yesterday there was water running down the road," Blanchard said Tuesday. "We expect the roadway is going to become an overflow channel."
Preventing the river from fully capturing Riverside Drive as an overflow channel is among the city's chief objectives, he said.
Blanchard said the city's primary policy during flooding events is to protect life, safety and public infrastructure. To the best extent they can, the city's public safety workers will also provide emergency evacuation aid to private citizens needing to leave their homes, he said.
"That's the only thing we do for private citizens," he said.
Blanchard noted that the protection of private property, especially buildings, should only take place immediately adjacent to areas threatened with damage. "We need it (the river) to get into the floodplain."
