-Photo by KEITH KINNAIRD

Excavators were used Monday to clear out rock and debris so Strong Creek could flow under a Montana Rail Link bridge.

County declares flood emergency

By KEITH KINNAIRD

News editor

EAST HOPE — Residents are being asked to use water conservatively for the time being because flooding in Strong Creek has overwhelmed a diversion dam directing water to the treatment system.

City officials are conducting a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Hope Community Center.

Mayor Paul Madden said the essential-use restriction is voluntary and the quality of the water has not been affected.

The diversion dam was operational on Saturday, but runoff from melting snowpack was sending sediment, boulders and trees down the creek, Madden said.

The sediment formed a layer of mud on the treatment plant’s sand filters, which reduced their output.

Madden and a half-dozen or so residents spent the weekend cleaning out the sand filters and improvising a system to pull water from another creek and direct it to the treatment plant.

“We’re doing OK because what we’ve basically set up is a jerry-rigged system into a side creek, which is nice and clear,” Madden said on Monday.

By Monday, the diversion dam was completely plugged and Strong Creek had found a path around the structure, said Bob Howard, Bonner County’s director of Emergency Management.

The cascade of water and material in Strong Creek was also overwhelming the Montana Rail Link bridge next to Highway 200. As many as four excavators were scooping out tons of rock on either side of the bridge so the creek could continue to pass beneath it.

Meantime, culverts under various county roads were working overtime or not at all. On Monday, water was washing over road sections on Upper Gold Creek, Upper Pack River and East Spring Creek Road near the Clark Fork hatchery.

A small landslide covered part of Highway 200 at Lake Rim Drive on Sunday, but by Monday only water was coming over the road.

Howard said there have been no reports of road washouts, although Road & Bridge crews have been scrambling to keep culverts clear.

Between the existing problems and the National Weather Service calling for more rain this week, county commissioners declared a flood emergency. The declaration provides access to state and federal funding for flood-control projects.

Governor Butch Otter added Bonner and Kootenai counties to the list of counties operating under flood emergencies on Monday. The state-level emergency declarations were already in place in Shoshone, Idaho and Clearwater counties.

Howard said protecting East Hope’s water is the top priority. He said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emergency funding could be utilized to help pay for the restoration of the diversion dam.

The levee protecting Clark Fork from Lightning Creek is being watched closely and plans are in the works to place more rip-rap armoring to keep that creek from wiping out East Spring Creek Road again.