River is approaching flood levels
By Hayden Seder
The saying usually goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” but residents of the Wood River Valley received a plethora of spring showers in the month of May, an amount of rainfall and a time of year not usually seen.
Those showers have caused concerns for flooding, what those rains have done to local trail systems, and how it might affect the upcoming fire season.
Flooding
While many expected flooding like what was seen in 2017, this season has seen minimal flood warnings or actual flooding. But on June 1, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Big Wood River in Hailey until this Friday, June 7, or until the warning is cancelled.
At 3:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 2, the river was at 4.96 feet; 5 feet is considered flood level. At 5 feet, street flooding will occur along Cedar Street, War Eagle and Della Vista drives in the lower subdivisions in Hailey and on Riverview Drive in Bellevue. The Draper Preserve in Hailey is inaccessible and water may go over some secondary roads in west Ketchum, like Wood River Drive, and the Gimlet subdivision will have flooding issues.
Trail Access
With intermittent warm weather and perhaps a desire to hunt for morels, it’s important to know which outdoor trails are ready for people, dogs and bikes, and which aren’t. The Blaine County Recreation District (BCRD) provides up-to-date maps of which trails are open and which aren’t on the Trail Link portion of their website.
As of press time, popular trails like Proctor and the White Clouds Loops, a good portion of Adams Gulch and much of Fox Creek Trail and Chocolate Gulch are open in the Sun Valley/Ketchum area. Areas like Bald Mountain, Pioneer Cabin and Oregon Gulch are not. In Hailey, Quigley and Democrat Gulch are open while Colorado Gulch is only partially open.
Sara Gress of the Wood River Trails Coalition said of current trail access, “Please turn around when trails get consistently muddy. The tracks you leave now dry into permanent trail damage that is difficult to fix, leaving concrete-like ruts no one likes to ride, run or bike on later. The less damage done to the trails now means trail crews can spend their time opening more trails instead of fixing avoidable damage. Please and thank you!”
Fire Season
More rain means greater growth of vegetation in our forests, which can impact what are becoming more and more dangerous fire seasons.
“All of this rain leads to more growth and fuel,” said Taan Robrahn, fire chief of the Sun Valley Fire Department. “As far as preparations go, we need to always be prepared, no matter the conditions.”
The fire department recently completed its yearly wildland refresher training and is prepared for wildland fire responses.
“Even though we have had a wet spring and a good winter, we can still have wildland fires now,” Robrahn said.
