Flooding still a concern in Boundary County

BONNERS FERRY — Flooding has not been this bad since before the Libby Dam was built in 1974.

“We’ve got new lakes in more places in the county than we have ever had since the dam was built,” said Boundary County incident commander Bob Graham

 Although Graham believes the worst is over as the Kootenai’s waters recede, flooding is still causing major problems for the county’s farmers.

The water is eating away at the dikes which create a barrier between the river and farmland, especially up north near Copeland. Graham said most of the concern is centered around farmland that extends from the U.S./Canada border to just south of Copeland Bridge.

“The farmers there are taking a major hit,” Graham said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the county had been at or above flood stage for 17 straight days.

While the river flooded in 2006, the waters quickly receded, limiting damage to the dikes that provide a barrier between the river and farmland, he said.

The sustained flooding is putting the dikes at risk.

To help reduce erosion problems caused by wave action, Boundary County Commissioners have issued an order keeping everyone but emergency responders off the river.

The waves from the wake of boats have been eating away at the dike, especially up river from Bonners Ferry, Graham said.

“This is the worst flooding on the Kootenai (since dam was built),” he said.

A fifth of Boundary County’s 30,000 acres of Kootenai River bottom farm land — 5,000 acres — are under water.

Quickly repairing the potential breaches has been imperative given the river’s history of flooding.

In 1961, the Kootenai River was 5 to 8 feet higher than farmland in the Copeland district and when the dike system was breached, the entire district flooded — including the airport and Copeland Road — in three hours.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently spent three weeks surveying the county’s dikes to find the areas most likely of being breached by the river.

The biggest problem has been caused in the Copeland area by eddying water that normally would have drained downstream. Instead the water has washed the sloped design of the dikes into vertical walls, sloughing away the structures and threatening to let the river overtake farmland.

 Crews spent this past weekend pouring rock into areas that were close to being breached.

Concerns about the Koocanusa reservoir running out of space have been set aside for now.

The reservoir located behind the Libby Dam is currently at full pool at 2,460 — a foot higher than the U.S./ Canada treaty that governs its elevation.

The Corps had to negotiate this year with the Canadians to increase the reservoir’s pool to 2,460, Graham said. When it filled to that level, it was thought that another foot of headspace might be needed.

The Kootenai River was down 2.5 feet on Wednesday.

The concern now is that as the river recedes, more sloughing of dikes will occur along the river system, Graham said.