Officials from several
agencies have continued to monitor high water conditions on several streams and
rivers in La Plata County. No
evacuations have been made, but some property owners downstream of Vallecito
Reservoir have reported minor flooding and water in areas where there has been
no water in recent years. Yesterday, the
Upper Pine Fire Protection District filled over 200 sandbags for homes and
worked hard to remove debris from bridges along the Pine River to ensure bridge
integrity and prevent flooding around the bridges. The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office
patrolled the Pine River below the Vallecito Reservoir watching bridges and
flow to ensure safety.
The National Weather Service has a flash flood watch in place for La Plata County. A flash flood watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. Heavy rain is still in the forecast for the next few days. Forecasters are expecting storms today that could produce ¼ to ¾ inch of precipitation. Additional thunderstorms are expected Saturday afternoon and scattered showers are forecasted for Sunday. In anticipation of the additional moisture from these storms, the heavy discharge out of Lemon and Vallecito Reservoirs will continue for the next few days depending upon weather patterns, moisture accumulations and upper elevation temperatures in the headwater areas of the streams. If rain falls on snow in the high elevations, it could cause a noticeable increase in the snowmelt resulting in high runoff into the streams.
Lemon and Vallecito
Reservoirs were nearing full capacity when we received the late season, heavy
snow accumulation in the headwaters of streams and rivers that pass through La
Plata County and two tropical weather systems this month that created
significant increases to the inflows going into the reservoirs. Consequently, operators of those two
irrigation structures had to make room for the additional water by discharging
large volumes of water out of the reservoirs.
This has led to significant flows downstream of the reservoirs. As a result, property owners below the
reservoirs are experiencing larger water volumes in the Florida and Pine Rivers
as water is released to create additional retention capacity in the
reservoirs. These large, controlled
discharges are intended to prevent larger, uncontrolled flooding out of the
reservoirs.
No other significant issues
have been reported for County Roads overnight, but motorists are urged to drive
carefully as they may encounter debris and mud on the roads. Motorists should not drive into areas where
the water covers the roadway. The water depth may be too great to allow a safe
crossing. If flooding is observed, act quickly. Do not enter the water. Turn
around and move up to higher ground.
“There has been an excellent
multi-agency process that has brought many professionals to the table to
observe and predict impacts from these conditions,” said Butch Knowlton, La
Plata County Emergency Management Director.
“There is just not one expert that can address all of the issues that
this type of event creates. Therefore
all of those people coming together to share their expertise and knowledge has
been impressive, and very much appreciated.”
Some of the agencies
coordinating the efforts include: Pine River Irrigation District, Bureau of
Reclamation, Colorado Division of Water Resources, Dam Safety Office in Denver,
National Weather Service, NOAA, Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, Upper
Pine Fire Protection District, Los Pinos Fire Protection District, Bayfield
Marshal, CDRC Corps of Engineers, Southern Ute Tribal Officials, US Forest
Service Columbine and San Juan Hotshots, La Plata County Road and Bridge, La
Plata County Office of Emergency Management and Sheriff’s Department, La Plata
County Search and Rescue, and numerous ditch companies and water users.
.
The National Weather Service
is the best source for weather updates.
Visit them online at www.weather.gov/.
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