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<br />Alamosa crews work
<br />repairing dikesthrough night
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<br />By MELISSA MONSON
<br />Courier Regional Edllor
<br />Crews from the A1amosa police, fire, and city and coWlty
<br />departments worked through the night monitoring the Rio
<br />Grande River and making repairs along the dike as a result
<br />of flooding possibilities that will continue to exist dwing the
<br />next 24 hours.
<br />At 5 a,m" the river was ruruting at 4,100 cubic feet per
<br />second compared to 3,500 cfs Monday morning at the same
<br />time, said A1amosa Police Chief Roy Orton, Harvey Teyler
<br />reported from the National Weather Service today that the
<br />river was 9.16 feet high at 6 a.m. this morning and it was
<br />continuing to rise.
<br />It is "probably the highest river stages we've ever seen,"
<br />Teyler said. In previous years, the established river level
<br />was eight feet, Teyler added; however, last month it went
<br />over that limit and flooding did not occur.
<br />The problem is that no one at this lime knows what the
<br />river will do because it has never been this high, Teyler
<br />explained. "We don't have records of it being this high,"
<br />Orton added,
<br />Although the National Weather Service issued a flood
<br />watch, which is a preparatory situation, SWlday at 6 p.m.,
<br />Teyler termed the watch as a "very serious situation,"
<br />"It's a very fine line that we're riding on," he added, and
<br />said that stress and pressure on the dikes is extreme and the
<br />concern rests on how much pressure the dikes can handle.
<br />As each hour goes by, the .stress on the dikes continues,
<br />Teyler said, which makes this a critical situation,
<br />City and COWlty crews worked last night on what Orton
<br />termed as a "minor" problem in the north part of Alamosa;
<br />however, anotl1er source said that it was a "significant
<br />problem" and that a 156-foot section of the dike had been
<br />Wldercut near Anderson construction north of the water
<br />tower.
<br />City Manager Greg Sparks reported that erosion problems
<br />and Wldercutting had occurred in that area along the dike.
<br />Although city and COWlty crews worked late into the night,
<br />litUe was accomplished because of equipment problems,
<br />Sparks explained. He said that the soft soil on the dike caused
<br />the coWlty's front..,nd loader 10 get stuck because it was so
<br />heavy. The city's loader, although smaller, worked for a
<br />while; however it too got stuck, Sparks said.
<br />Bulldozers are in that area today reinforcing the dikes,
<br />Sparks said and added that 60 loads of soil and broken up
<br />concrete had been used yesterday to reinforce the dikes near
<br />
<br />the gauging station in the vicinity of La Veta Avenue.
<br />Sparks also said that he had received ca1ls that water was
<br />backing up through the storm drains on El Camino, which is
<br />off of First Street, and on streets north of Adams State
<br />College. This won't cause major problems other than a litUe
<br />water on the streets, Sparks explained.
<br />Sandbagging has been done in a few of those areas, Nearly
<br />1,500 sand begs were filled yesterday, said Sparks, adding
<br />that the city and coWlty are very well stocked at this point.
<br />"We can handle the water going through if we keep on lop
<br />of it," Sparks said, The main problem is that the dikes are
<br />made of sandy soil, which is not very sturdy, he concluded.
<br />"Everything looks like it is in good shape," said Orton,
<br />adding that there has been no danger so far.
<br />Teyler warned, however, that residents should not relax if
<br />the water drops because the danger will not pass within 24
<br />bours. The National Weather Service will operate aroWld the
<br />clock Wltil the river is down to the eight.foot level again.
<br />A major problem that Teyler sees is debris - namely trees
<br />- that have fallen into the river. The high water has
<br />saturated the soil aroWld the trees and high winds have
<br />caused trees to fall inlo the Rio Grande.
<br />He cited an area southeast of Iown by the railroad lressel
<br />wbere flooding could occur as a result of several fallen trees
<br />inlo the rive~.
<br />Teyler attributes the flooding conditions to WlUSuaJJy
<br />heavy snowpack in the higb COWltry and rapid melting
<br />conditions in a short period of time. For instance, the tem-
<br />perature in Alamosa jumped from 69 degrees Wednesday to
<br />SO degrees Thursday. This was the beginning of significant
<br />melt in the higb COWltry, he explained.
<br />
<br />The snowslorm at the end of April, followed by a warm
<br />period in the beginning of May, also added to the problem,
<br />Teylcr said.
<br />He described the flooding as a "big pond of water that
<br />spread" as a result of the spill in Rio Grande and Beaver
<br />Dam reservoirs. This water ends up in the river and even-
<br />tually spreads to the communities at the base of the reser-
<br />voirs ancj moves across the San Luis Valley.
<br />
<br />Although the water level dropped sJighUy in Del Norte and
<br />Monte Vista, this won't alleviate the problem, said Teyler,
<br />concludiJig that problems could happen within minutes.
<br />San Luis Valley and Alamosa residents are encouraged 10
<br />pay attention to all news media available for updated con-
<br />ditions.
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