County preps for possible spring floods

MONTROSE — Montrose County might not find itself high and dry this spring — officials are warning the public of possible flooding due to increased snowpack.

“Our snowpack is at 123 percent of snow-water equivalent for the Gunnison Basin, said Scott King, well commissioner for the Montrose office (division four) of the Division of Water Resources.

The snow-water equivalent refers to the actual amount of moisture contained in the snowpack.

“From this point, it all just depends on the weather — if we get sustained runoff, or if it happens really quickly,” he said.

A slow thaw would likely result in a more gradual snowmelt and less flooding risk, Mark Young said.

Young represents the Montrose County Sheriff’s Posse on the county’s flood task force, a group composed of numerous city and county agencies, emergency medical services, water users associations and the Division of Water Resources.

A few weeks of warm temperatures and rain could spell trouble, he said.

“The big question nobody knows (the answer to) is how fast it’s going to warm up.”

Young was concerned the Uncompahgre Valley could be hit with floods rivaling those of 1974, when he said Spring Creek washed out.

The exact flood risk is not known, but “proactive” steps are being taken just in case, Commissioner Gary Ellis said.

“The potential is there with the snowpack what it is. There’s always that possibility. We felt we needed to be proactive in planning.”

He said in addition to other measures, the flood task force decided to order 10,000 sandbags that can be used as impromptu dams, should the need arise. The county will store the sandbags at its road and bridge offices.

“We’re just being cautious,” he said.

Up to 200 sandbags per person could be available to the public, Emergency Management Coordinator Robyn Funk said.

King said federally managed dams on area reservoirs, particularly the Aspinall Unit, were making as much room as possible for additional inflows and checking their spillway structures.

“We’re kind of in a wait mode to see how it does come off,” he said. “We don’t have any particular concerns, but at the same time, it’s possible.”

Ellis said the county is keeping an eye on its bridges, several of which are already in need of replacement or repairs. Flooding can clog bridges with debris, pressuring and potentially damaging them.

“We don’t want to alarm anybody, but we certainly want to be prepared,” he said.

Young and Funk said the posse was poised to patrol bridges at night, if necessary.

In a news release about the high country’s higher-than-average snowpack, the Colorado Water Conservation Board in Denver urged residents to consider flood insurance, a suggestion echoed by Funk and Young.

“If there was ever a year to buy flood insurance, this is the year,” Young said. “Most homeowners don’t know their homeowners’ insurance doesn’t cover them for floods or water damage.”

He said most flood insurance policies also have a 30-day wait period before they take effect.