After last year's floods, Flagstaff begins preparing residents for monsoon
FLAGSTAFF — After Flagstaff and its surrounding county area experienced more than 30 separate flood events last summer, city officials have spent months on flood mitigation projects in preparation for the upcoming monsoon, which officially begins in July.
Dozens of residents from across the city attended two community meetings this month where officials provided updates on a suite of various flood control projects that were underway since last year for both the Schultz Creek/Pipeline West flood area and the Spruce Wash/Museum flood area.
In addition to the Schultz Creek sediment basins completed last fall, the city aims to complete the construction of one of three Park Way sediment basins above Linda Vista Drive by the end of June.
In coordination with the U.S. Forest Service, the county Flood Control District is also slated to start more on-forest work this spring, including construction of a large alluvial fan to help disperse debris beginning next week. According to U.S. Geological Survey, an alluvial fan occurs when a fast-moving mountain stream empties out onto a relatively flat plain.
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"Those are the game changers," in terms of mitigating impacts downstream, said Lucinda Andreani, Flood Control District administrator.
"If we can't do this kind of work on-forest, those measures won't be able to perform because they will just fill up with sediment and debris," she said.
City and county officials assured the community that crews were working as much as possible in the off-season to limit the potential impact of flooding this year, but they were slowed down by the record snowfall last winter.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Klimowski spoke at both meetings, using the latest data to outline what the area could expect when monsoon officially begins in July.
Because we're still months away, there are no strong signals regarding monsoon rainfall quite yet but he said the area is getting a small preview of what could come with the current weather pattern having similar atmospheric conditions to the monsoon.
He also explained that there is a strong correlation between a very wet winter followed by the delayed onset of the monsoon. So while there will be rain, he said, a later start could mean less opportunity for precipitation and flooding during the traditional season.
"Now keep in mind, we will have flooding rains, we will have some big storms, we will have weather that will impact the wash this year," Klimowski said. "So stay tuned, be informed and be safe."
Residents were encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts ahead of the season.
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Emergency management officials are not recommending any extra mitigation at this time and encourage residents to replace any outward-facing sandbags that have been damaged now, before any major storms come. Sandbags that are still in working order should not be replaced due to limited supply.
A self-fill sandbag station is in the lot just north of Coconino County Health and Human Services, 2625 King St.
Reach the reporter at LLatch@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Flagstaff braces for monsoon after last summer's flooding
