Snake’s Record Run Keeps Towns Awash Focus Is On Vulnerable Canal, Levees As Flood Watch Moves West

Snake River floodwaters covering several eastern Idaho communities remained at record flows Saturday, while authorities worked to keep a huge canal within its banks and prevent even more extensive flooding.

Slightly more water continued to pour into the brimming Palisades Reservoir near the Wyoming border than was flowing out, but officials at the Idaho Department of Water Resources said they did not expect any water to spill over the dam.

Flows from the eastern Idaho reservoir into the South Fork of the Snake River were measured Saturday at 39,000 cubic feet per second, a record since the dam was constructed in 1957. The amount of water entering the reservoir was measured at 43,055 cfs, down slightly from Friday’s 45,000 cfs.

“It’s essentially releasing at the same rate as it’s arriving,” Water Resources spokesman Dick Larsen said. “This is the first glimmer of hope that things will improve.”

Meantime, about 35 miles downstream, Jefferson County authorities were monitoring the Great Feeder Canal and the levees supporting it.

“This is the place we’re most cautious about, but it’s also the most solid place,” Sheriff Blair Olsen said. The consequences if the levee gave way would be devastating. Entire towns and much of the county’s agricultural lands would be inundated.

“We would lose all of Ririe, all of Rigby, all of Lewisville, part of Menan, and about 65 percent of Jefferson’s agricultural land would be flooded,” he said.

The main route into Roberts, some 50 miles downstream from the Palisades Reservoir, was still cut off. Idaho Highway 48 remained closed due to water flowing over the road.

The town itself, with a population of about 600, remained on dry ground. However, about half its residents had evacuated and about two dozen nearby homes were flooded.

The main focus of work Saturday was a cracked levee near Menan, where the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Guard were conducting repairs. The rift flooded 1,000 acres of farmland and forced the evacuation of about 100 residents of the community of Menan late Thursday.

A dozen Bingham County roads and bridges were closed or restricted. And an estimated 60 homes had been flooded.

No one has been injured because of the flooding.

Gov. Phil Batt planned to fly to eastern Idaho today. He is scheduled to tour the area by air and meet with Jefferson and Bingham county officials.

Lt. Gov. Butch Otter told Jefferson County officials not to worry about the cost of the cleanup efforts.

“Whatever you need, we’re going to get it. We’ll let the money boys take care of worrying about that later,” Otter said.

The high water’s effect has spread all the way across southern Idaho. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Snake River to Weiser at the Oregon border.

The Federal Aviation Administration also restricted airspace over the Snake River in Jefferson County after flying sightseers hampered National Guard helicopter flights.