Flood watch is on
Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:15 PM PST
Larry Meyer Argus Observer
ONTARIO
Malheur County emergency services personnel kept a close eye on the fluctuating Malheur River during the night, but apparently the snow melt was not as great as expected and the river stayed in its banks, Lt. Craig Smith, Emergency Services commander, said early today.
The forecast for the Malheur River described a boost in water levels to flood stage late Wednesday.
While still below floodstage, the river is rising Smith said. He said the flood threat is not over, as more rain is predicted.
Tuesday, National Weather Service forecasters said the river was expected to crest at 2 feet above flood stage before receding. However, forecasts later Wednesday described the river hovering about 6 inches below flood stage.
Low-lying areas from Harper to Ontario were under a flood warning, with some areas predicted to be under water, including some roads.
Property owners and other people who have land along the river were taking steps to protect livestock and other property.
Jane Luther, who lives west of Malheur Butte, said the big threat is a higher water table, which rises when the river floods.
“Most of the stuff is still out of the basement from January,” she said, referring to when the river flooded around New Year's.
“We have two sump pumps,” she said. “There is not much else we can do.”
A neighbor's pasture and a field the Luthers rent do get flooded, she said.
Normally using the Butte Drive crossing to get home, Luther said that road and 36th Street are closed to Halliday Road and then right up to Foothill Drive, and then east. The other alternative is to get on Foothill Drive north of Ontario.
Luther said the river channel should have been cleaned out pretty well with the flooding in January.
Wednesday, Scott Ward, manager of the Vale Oregon Irrigation District, said 1,200 cubic feet per second of water was discharged from Bully Creek Reservoir, having been up to 1,500 cfs. earlier. Ward said he felt that had achieved enough of a cushion in the reservoir to reduce flows and leave more room in the Malheur River. At Beulah Reservoir, 792 cfs. was discharged.
According to the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the snow depth at three automatic recording sites in the Malheur watershed ranged from 41 inches, as of Wednesday, to 84 inches, with snow-water equivalents ranging from 17 inches to 29.8 inches. Based on the snotel site date, the basin-wide snow-water equivalent was said to be still about 151 percent of average.
Ward said the United States Bureau of Reclamation officials planned to fly over the watershed to get a better picture of how much snow is really out there.
Meanwhile, the Owyhee Irrigation District released its own warning Wednesday to those living or owning property downstream from the dam on possible increases in flows from Owyhee Reservoir during the next several days.
Officials, in a news release, cited more precipitation in the area and a need to prepare for flood control operations.
Wednesday releases at the reservoir were put at around 1,550 cfs. An increased runoff is expected because of a higher than normal snow pack, and warm and wet weather conditions during the last week. Flows could increase 3,000 to 5,000 cfs., irrigation district officials said. Downstream flows will fluctuate to sustain the necessary reservoir storage requirements.
