JACKSON, Wyo. – A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-fight specialist from the Walla Walla District arrived in Jackson, Wyo., Monday to join Corps staff already at work supporting local flood response operations in Teton County.
Dan Tucker, a geologist who normally works in the District Headquarters’ Geo-technical Branch in Walla Walla, Wash. (hometown = Umapine, Ore.), will help emergency management experts monitor and make emergency repairs on levees within the Jackson Hole Levee Project, a system of many levee sections that provides flood-risk management benefits to communities along the upper Snake River near Jackson.
Repairs at two flood-damaged locations on the Lucas Levee on the Gros Ventre River were completed yesterday, according to Ken Koebberling, the Corps’ on-site flood-fight team lead. The contractor, Ridgeline Excavation Inc., of Jackson, Wyo., replaced large protective rock washed away by high river flows. They also installed a small rock diversion structure at the upstream end of the levee to help deflect high-velocity river flows away from downstream areas of the levee.
Work is about 20 percent complete at the JY Ranch Levee where workers are replacing protective rock and fill material scoured away by high river flows. Repairs will also include restoring the top of the levee to the structural design elevation. The Corps contracted with Seaton Earthmover Inc. of Wilson, Wyo., to perform the work along 1,886-foot-long area of the levee, located on the west side of the Snake River upstream of the Gros Ventre River confluence, near Teton Village.
The Corps team has completed repairs on eight other levee sections in the Jackson Hole Levee Project area to date – Walton Quarry Access Road, John Dodge, Evans, 95 Ranch Number 1, Taylor Numbers 1, 2 and 3, and Morgan.
As previously reported: rainy weather and warming spring temperatures melting a near-record-level snowpack have resulted unusually high flows in the river basin. Those flows can damage sections of the levee system that provides flood-risk management benefits to communities along the upper Snake River near Jackson in Teton County.
Trained flood-fight specialists from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, arrived May 18 to support Teton County’s flood preparation efforts. Together, with community “levee watchers” they continue to monitor the river’s effect on protective levees owned by the Corps, the county, cities and private land owners. They work closely with state and county emergency management officials, reporting their observations, providing technical expertise and facilitating requests for technical and direct assistance.
Residents of flood-prone areas are encouraged to keep informed of changing river and weather conditions on the National Weather Service website at http://water.weather.gov/ahps/forecasts.php – which includes flows data, weather forecasts and flood alerts – and by tuning in to local radio and television news stations.
Emergency management officials in Teton County encourage residents to be prepared to respond to localized flooding. Individuals are encouraged to contact local emergency management agencies to ensure they understand how to receive updates and information specific to their location. Teton County’s website offers an alert system that will send emergency notices by text or email to residents’ electronic communication devices – sign up for free at http://www.tetonwyo.org/AgencyHome.asp?dept_id=em.
Early forecasts indicate that this will be one of the top five years on record. Snake River Basin water volumes are forecasted to be similar to 1997.
Corps water management officials continue coordinating with other federal and non-federal dam managers to make adjustments in river system operations that will best accommodate the increased run-off inflows. Reservoirs are being drafted ahead of anticipated heavy spring runoff. The Corps works closely with other agencies and local government entities to notify the public as early as possible when changes to flows are necessary.
The Corps is authorized to work with states, counties and other public entities to provide necessary resources and information. The Corps does not have authority to provide disaster assistance directly to individuals. The organization will continue to carefully watch the evolving situation and respond, when requested, with whatever assistance is authorized, appropriate and available.
The first responsibility for protecting homes and property from flood damage rests with the individual. Local governments and agencies, such as flood control districts, may share in this responsibility, and together form a community's first line of defense in preventing flood damages.
Occasionally, however, local resources are not able to control or contain a flood emergency situation. The Corps’ flood disaster assistance program is intended to supplement and assist local governments, institutions and special-purpose districts when more help is needed.
The Walla Walla District is prepared to assist states and municipalities with flood-management support, if requested, said Jeff Stidham, Walla Walla District emergency management specialist. That assistance could include technical expertise, supplies and materials, equipment or contracts for emergency flood-fighting work.
State and local agencies needing disaster assistance from the Corps should contact the Walla Walla District Emergency Management Office at (509) 527-7146, or (509) 380-4538.
For more information about Emergency Management Assistance, check out the District’s Web site at www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/op/em/flodasst.htm or call (509) 527-7145.
For Corps updates and photos of flood-fight efforts in Idaho and Wyoming, visit our Facebook site www.facebook.com/WallaWallaUSACE.
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