In response to recent flooding throughout the Inland Northwest, the Bonner County board of commissioners reaffirmed a countywide emergency disaster declaration and request for aid from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Dec. 16 regular business meeting. The vote follows a verbal declaration by Chair Brian Domke in the early hours of Dec. 11, who, along with Bonner County Emergency Management, had to take action to facilitate repairs to several county-maintained roads.
“Due to extreme weather conditions, snowmelt and heavy rain, flooding has caused the closure of the East Spring Creek and Lightning Creek roads,” said Bonner County Emergency Management Director Bob Howard at the Dec. 16 meeting.
The county declared the flooding a “threat to life and property,” citing considerable damage already caused to private homes and roads in the vicinity of local rivers. According to Domke, the public-maintained East Spring Creek, Lightning Creek, Johnson Creek and Trestle Creek roads all sustained damage, with flooding further undermining the main water line for Clark Fork, forcing the city to utilize a secondary feed.
Bonner County Road and Bridge, Emergency Management and the Sheriff’s Office coordinated with area emergency responders, volunteers and private contractors over several days to restabilize East Spring Creek Road near Clark Fork, and the road remains passable as of press time.
A section of U.S. Forest Service Road No. 293 (leading to Fault Lake trailhead) washed away and slid down a steep drainage to Pack River Road below, covering the latter with debris, according to USFS Hydrologist Kevin Davis. Photo by Mike Berg, USFS.
The Corps is currently monitoring regional dams to minimize flood risks. As of a Dec. 13 news release, Lake Pend Oreille’s water level is expected to rise “beyond its typical winter band” as the Albeni Falls Dam continues to release approximately 26,000 cubic feet per second. The Corps has likewise modified Montana’s Libby Dam output on the Kootenai River to decrease the likelihood of extensive flooding in Bonners Ferry.
“I was pleasantly amazed at how fast everything worked and how well the different government agencies and the private sector worked together,” said Commissioner Ron Korn. “East Spring Creek Road was really the only ingress and egress for hundreds of homes, and within three days, that road was opened back up. It was completely gone … I would just like to praise everybody that was involved for working together and collaborating to make that happen.”
Emergency repairs and coordination with the Corps began following the Dec. 11 verbal declaration; however, it wasn’t until Dec. 16 that the commissioners were able to meet and reaffirm the actions in two unanimous votes.
The county continues to work with the Corps to stabilize local riverbanks to minimize the impact of excess water on adjacent infrastructure.
“All the work the Corps of Engineers is doing for us is at no cost to Bonner County,” Howard said. “They hire the contractors, provide all the materials — there’s no cost to Bonner County whatsoever. It’s all free to us.”
In addition to the county-level Declaration of a Local Disaster Emergency signed by all three commissioners, Domke contacted the Idaho Office of Emergency Management on Dec. 15, requesting that Gov. Brad Little approve a state-level emergency declaration for Bonner County.
“If they do so, then what happens is that [it] activates a mechanism that allows the state to provide up to 50% matching funds for those emergencies that we undertake,” said Domke. “We received news through the Office of Emergency Management at the state level yesterday that the governor provided a verbal approval, and now we’re waiting to go through the paperwork process to finalize that.”
The BOCC will need to submit a letter to the state authorizing “a representative to act on our behalf, which would typically be the director of emergency management for the county,” and estimating future emergency actions and associated costs. Domke anticipates that the letter will come before the board for a vote on or before Tuesday, Dec. 23.
“We don’t know at this time if damages have reached or exceeded this level, but [the state] also made us aware that if, at a statewide level, the total cost of emergency measures exceeds $3.5 million, then it’s possible to request and receive a federal-level emergency [declaration], which would further provide additional funding,” said Domke. “Of course, we want to always consider what are the obligations that come with such funding.”
Domke cautioned that potential repairs funded by the state and federal governments — including the Corps — will only address “essentially temporary conditions” to “maintain safe access,” but will not return washed-out roads to their previous standards.
“There’s also the understanding, then, that the total cost of the long-term repairs is likely going to mean that there are other planned maintenance and/or improvement items that we had built into the budget for Road and Bridge this fiscal year that may no longer be feasible because of these emergency costs,” said Domke. “We’re just going to have to evaluate that and bring that information forward as we understand the impact.”
To receive regular updates on local emergencies, sign up for Bonner County Nixle alerts by texting your zip code to 888777. For more information and other resources, visit bonnercountyid.gov/departments/EmergencyManagement.
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