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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: March 25, 2019 <br />TOPIC: 2019 Spring Flood Update <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Informational Only <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Informational only — no action required. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Public Works (PW) recently met with area irrigators and the City of Ellensburg <br />• Weather conditions have remained favorable (through 03-22-2019) <br />• Freezing night temperatures have been favorable <br />• PW is expecting localized flooding at Whiskey and Mercer <br />BACKGROUND: <br />On Tuesday (03-19-2019) PW maintenance management staff met with representatives from <br />the City of Ellensburg and the three main irrigation districts (EWC, KCRD and Cascade). <br />We reviewed current areas of concern and reviewed general known areas of lower County <br />flooding. Reports are favorable from Upper County relative to the amount of snow and ice in <br />main irrigation canals. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />Some amount of rain is expected this weekend. Concern is for daytime temperatures <br />exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit coupled with over a quarter inch of rain. Soil conditions <br />remain completely saturated and any amount of precipitation is expected to immediately <br />runoff the landscape. Snow pack at upper elevations appear to be consolidating well (low <br />water content) adding to confidence of a minimal flood event this spring. Local irrigation <br />managers' report that that snow pack conditions represent approximately 80 percent of <br />normal going into the runoff season. In conclusion, we have benefitted greatly from freezing <br />conditions at night with relatively moderate daytime temperatures. This mix of temperature <br />conditions is allowing a sustained orderly melt off of area snow pack with minimal impact to <br />area streams. <br />FISCAL IMPACTS: <br />PW is budgeted for flood fight operations in the 2019 maintenance budget. Additional <br />funding is available in the County's Flood Control Zone District 2019 budget. <br />ATTACHMENTS: <br />None. <br />Page 1 of 1 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />