Thunderstorms and warmer than expected weather over the weekend pushed the Big Wood River nearly two feet above flood stage, keeping Blaine County authorities and contract workers hopping to prevent major flooding.
Part of the road at Deer Creek Bridge north of Hailey collapsed into the Big Wood River Tuesday morning as raging waters eroded away the bank on the west side of the structure.
Under the supervision of county officials, crews from KD Excavation, Katco Excavation and Burks Excavation dumped rock and dirt into the breach to save the bridge. The crews were in the area on other flood control work and were able to quickly respond to the emergency.
Blaine County Disaster Services coordinator Chuck Turner said work would continue through Tuesday evening to try and save the structure.
Elsewhere, crews worked to shore up levies and save homes throughout the county along the river and some of its tributaries.
Moderate flooding continued in portions of Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue.
Although water levels are predicted to drop for Memorial Day weekend, local authorities warned people to stay away from the river.
"It's still a very dangerous river," said Ketchum City Administrator Ron LeBlanc. "We're anticipating a lot of people in town for Memorial Day weekend looking for excitement. It's not a good time to go tubing. Don't throw sticks in the water for your dog."
The Big Wood River peaked at 7.9 feet with a flow of 6,700 cubic feet of water per second at about 7 a.m. Sunday That's the highest water level seen on the river since June 12, 1958, when the Big Wood crested at 8.9 feet.
Water levels dropped after Sunday morning, but remained above the flood stage through Tuesday.
Thunderstorms dumped up to an inch of water in some areas late Friday and early Saturday, exceeding earlier predictions from the National Weather Service.
Cooler weather is expected for the weekend but brings with it the potential for more rainfall.
"Cool and unsettled and kinda wet—potentially pretty wet," was how the weekend was described by Bill Wojcik, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Pocatello. He said rain accumulations are anticipated at one-quarter to one-half inch but could be higher in some areas because of thunderstorms.
NWS is cautiously predicting that by Monday the river will be below flood stage. "But with the rain coming in over the weekend, there's some uncertainty as to when it will drop," Wojcik said.
Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling said county road and bridge and private crews battled several trouble spots over the weekend.
In the Zinc Spur area north of Hailey, crews dumped material to stabilize a levy and prevent flooding of some 30-40 homes.
"Emergency Stream Alteration permits were issued over the weekend and they've been working on it since," Femling said.
He said a voluntary evacuation was issued for the upper Warm Springs Road area west of Ketchum on Saturday morning after water near Bassett Gulch threatened to wash out the road. No one was evacuated though, and county road and bridge personnel remedied the situation, he said.
The list of other trouble spots along the river reads like a Blaine County road directory: Eagle Creek Road, Glendale Road Bridge, Star Weather Drive, Broadford Road and other areas were threatened.
Farther south, floodwaters threatened Gooding and Lincoln counties below Magic Reservoir, which was at about 91 percent capacity Tuesday morning.
Lynn Harmon, Big Wood Canal Company general manager said about 5,400 cubic feet of water per second were flowing into Magic Reservoir from the Big Wood River. The outflow was about the same.
"We're just basically passing it straight through right now," Harmon said.
Flood warnings remained in effect for both Lincoln and Gooding counties and minor flooding was reported.
"The rivers down here are about as high as they've been all year," said Lincoln County Sheriff Kent McBride. "Right now we seem to be in pretty good shape though. Unless we get a lot more water coming out of Magic Reservoir, we'll be all right."
Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough said flooding conditions were about the same as the county experienced in April when runoff from Camas Prairie to the north filled Magic Reservoir to near capacity.
"No worse or better," Gough said. "It's on its way down now. The same things got flooded again -- a few outbuildings and that's it,"
Authorities in both counties remained concerned about the Little Wood River, which flows through the cities of Shoshone and Gooding, as the Little Wood Reservoir near Carey approached capacity.
Little Wood Reservoir was at 81 percent capacity Tuesday, but at present inflow and outflow rates the reservoir will fill within 10 or 11 days, said Gary Kraus, a hydrologic technician with the U.S Bureau of Reclamation office in Burley.
Kraus said variables such as temperatures, precipitation and irrigation demand could affect how soon the reservoir fills.
Significant snowpack still remains in both the Big Wood and Little Wood basins, according to Snotel, an online snow report of the National Resource Conservation Service.
In the Big Wood Basin, snow depth at Galena Summit was 99.9 inches, while Dollarhide Summit still held 51 inches of snow.
Snow depth at Smiley Mountain in the Little Wood Basin was listed at 38 inches.
Margi Caldwell Cooper, foreground, and Cameron Cooper kayak through the daffodils in their west Ketchum yard Friday morning. Photo by Willy Cook
