As long as significant rain doesn’t fall this weekend, the amount of water flowing into the Boise River could begin going down next week. But before that happens, officials are asking people to closely monitor things in case flooding gets worse.
Warmer weather this week has pushed Lucky Peak Dam to 88 percent capacity, while the upstream Arrowrock and Anderson Ranch Reservoirs are 98 and 99 percent full.
Boise officials say they’ve been told they would receive just 24-hours notice if the Army Corps of Engineers decide to increase flows out of Lucky Peak and into the river. City spokesperson Mike Journee says people should keep tabs on the situation, but that at this point they aren’t assuming any additional flooding will occur.
Ada County spokesperson Kate McGuire says although there’s no reason to be alarmed right now, the next 10 days will be quite important.
“We have reached a point where our reservoir systems are filling up and we’ve got extremely high flows in the Boise River and that snow’s got to go somewhere,” she says.
This is the third month the county has been dealing with the high flows and flooding.
“It’s been a struggle for us, this situation has gone on since March 29th and so to keep the public’s attention of the severity of the situation has been difficult for us. And we understand how frustrated the public is.”
McGuire urges people to continue to stay away from the river, and to keep an eye open for water on the roads if conditions change.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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