Reduced Water Flow Spells Relief

Federal water managers continued reducing the flows from Palisades Reservoir on Monday, further easing pressure on flood-stricken eastern Idaho communities.

“It’s coming down,” Bingham County Commissioner George Katseanes said.

The Bureau of Reclamation dropped the release another 2,000 cubic feet per second on Monday to 35,000 as snowmelt into the reservoir on the Idaho-Wyoming border ebbed. The reservoir, 4 inches over full last Thursday when flows through the dam were at 40,000 cfs, was down more than a foot.

Water was still flowing through the Snake River higher than at any time since the Teton Dam broke 21 years ago. But the lower releases since the weekend began are allowing local residents, volunteers and officials to continue recovery efforts.

The disaster claimed the lives of two National Guardsmen in a helicopter crash last week, damaged hundreds of homes and swamped thousands of acres of farmland. Losses have been placed as high as $50 million.

Crews finished a dirt dike on the east side of the flooded section of Interstate 15 and began pumping water off the highway. Brent Frank of the state Transportation Department was optimistic the southbound lanes of the interstate, which has been closed for nearly two weeks, will reopen to two-way traffic next week.

Bureau of Reclamation engineer Mark Croghan said most of the mountain snowpack below 9,000 feet has melted so that unless the region gets a warm day coupled with a heavy rain similar to a week ago, dam operators should be able to keep ratcheting back on flows through the Palisades Dam.

The National Guard was pulling out its troops as officials became more and more confident that the river was finally receding for good.

Water still surrounded many homes up and down the river’s course through eastern Idaho, and some weak spots in dikes and levees were being eroded even as the flow came down.

But after being under siege for over two weeks, Katseanes said, “it was nothing new.”

Croghan offered the best news to flood victims.

“There’s not enough snow left to go as high as it did this last time.”