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Flood control

Local flooding potential rising with snowpack

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RONAN — Even if no rains come down this spring, Lake County can expect to see floods come up, authorities say.

Snowpack across Western Montana is currently 115 percent of average — higher than it’s been in more than a decade, according to Ray Nickless, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula. This year is nearly on par with 1997, when the region had a slightly higher snowpack and experienced heavy flooding, Nickless explained in an informational meeting hosted by the Lake County Planning Department last Wednesday. The reason for this winter’s increased snowfall, he said, is rooted far out in the Pacific Ocean.

La Niña, as the weather phenomena is dubbed, is a cooling of sea temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, resulting in changed weather patterns that mean below-normal temperatures and above-average precipitation for Western Montana. The trend will continue throughout March, and after that, it’s hard to predict when things will start to return to normal.

“As we go through the summer months, La Niña is expected to weaken,” Nickless said.

Regardless of the summer forecast, trouble is sure to come with the spring runoff, Nickless explained. He expects to see flooding all along the Mission Mountains as the snow melts.

“It’s gonna be hard to stop all that water,” he said.

Over the past 40 years, Western Montana experienced eight La Niña years, five of those with higher-than-average snowpack.

“Every year when we were above normal snowpack, we had flooding,” Nickless said.

His words weren’t good news for the 30-odd landowners at the meeting, and talk soon turned to flood prevention. Flathead Indian Irrigation Project manager Gordon Wind was among the audience, and found himself bombarded with questions as to how the Irrigation Project plans to help curb the flooding. 

“When (reservoirs are) full, we have to spill … because there is nowhere else for (the water) to go,” Wind said. “We basically let nature take its course.”

Landowners suggested that Wind and his workers should release water now from reservoirs such as McDonald Lake, Kicking Horse, Ninepipes, Pablo and Crow Reservoirs in anticipation of a heavy spring runoff; that way, the reservoirs could take on some extra water later on and keep flooding down. But pre-releasing water from the reservoirs isn’t a viable option, Wind explained. There’s nowhere to send excess water from Ninepipes and Kicking Horse Reservoirs other than the irrigation system, and the FIIP can’t release irrigation water until there’s a demand for irrigation, Wind said. 

“The way the project is designed, water is released at the nearest natural stream when there’s excess flows,” Wind said.

Depending on how severe the flooding gets, valley residents may face major property damage, so people should consider buying flood insurance, FEMA representative Marijo Brady said. She gave a presentation on FEMA flood insurance and encouraged all property owners, not just those living in floodplains, to weigh the benefits of flood insurance.

“Historically, Lake County has never seen a presidential (disaster) declaration,” Brady said. “If you don’t carry flood insurance, and you wait for a declaration, you might be waiting for a long time.”

If you have flood insurance, as long as a flood affects “two acres or two properties (with different owners) and the water runs across the land,” then you can make a flood claim, she explained. 

Lake County residents with more questions on potential flooding can contact Lake County Floodplain Administrator Tiffany Lyden at 406-258-4841.

 

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