Flood potential exists in region

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

April 2, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Goodbye, winter blues ... hello, spring flooding.

By any account, this spring will be wet. And those residing in generally low areas or by rivers, lakes and streams may be "low and wet" -- as opposed to high and dry -- this spring, says Mississippi Headwaters Board Director Molly MacGregor of Walker.

A number of factors have combined to make the potential for flooding this year higher last year, she said.

For instance, 72 inches of snow fell this winter which was actually less than last year's total, but some of this year's snow fell just recently in late March, meaning it will be later to melt.

Just a large snow accumulation does not guarantee a problem with water, she said, but a large amount of moisture in the snow does mean more water runoff. And this year the area's snow moisture is high. So the large snow accumulation in addition to a high moisture content may equal trouble.

Measurements of the moisture content of the area's snow are between six to eight inches of water, said Brent Johnson, Red Lake Watershed District Engineer. Anything over four inches of moisture in snow is high, he added.

And finally, adding to the problem is that frost levels in the soil are not deep, so there is also remaining moisture in the soil from last fall's rains.

Johnson is responsible for studying only the northern halves of Beltrami and Clearwater counties, but he said the frost levels have varied in those regions, meaning problems with high water levels will vary in the area.

As for melting, he said it would have been better for the snowpack to melt in March, but even a slow melt in April would ease the potential for flooding or high water levels.

The past week, in which temperatures have reached 40 degrees during the day and dropped to below freezing at night, has been ideal for a slow melt.

"The expectation is that there will be flooding," MacGregor said. "The ground is (already) saturated, so anything that has water in it will have more water in it."

A National Weather Service hydrologist in Grand Forks, N.D., agrees that things will be wet in the region, and said there is a high potential for flooding in tributaries. Rivers could crest several feet over flood stage.

MacGregor said nobody in the region has reported problems as of yet, but several reservoirs along the upper Mississippi River have been lowered in anticipation of flooding. And officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to county emergency managers are gearing up for flooding.

For the public, she said the best advice she had is to start moving things, such as docks, that could be damaged by a flood. Last year, several docks and shoreland property were ruined on Cass, Leech and Pokegama lakes from high water levels.

She added there are erosion control methods property owners can use to lessen high water or flood damage. Information about stabilization techniques are available from the County Environmental Services Office, the Mississippi Headwaters Board, the Chippewa National Forest, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Beltrami Soil and Waters Conservation District.

However, she added that if more than 10 cubic yards of dirt is moved, a county permit may be needed to do the project.

For more tips about flood safety, the public can contact the local chapter of the American Red Cross, the county emergency manager at the Courthouse or the National Weather Service at (701) 772-0702.