River’s Spillover Has Residents Edgy

The Weiser River has given a small glimpse of what Idaho could face as a record snowpack melts.

The river jumped its banks Friday morning east of town and poured through a levee destroyed in a Jan. 1 flood. Although not serious, it was enough to worry residents, Washington County Clerk Sharon Widner said.

“Everybody who went through it the first time is on edge. They keep saying it’s coming again,” said Widner, who had 7 inches of water in her home during the Jan. 1 flood.

The Payette and Boise rivers are high, but no new flooding has been reported, said Darren Blagburn, state Bureau of Disaster Services spokesman.

After the last flood, the Army Corps of Engineers said they would not rebuild the area’s levees because they were not effective. That put 12,000 acres of farmland in jeopardy.

The breach endangers a vital irrigation ditch, Washington County Commissioner Tony Edmondson said.