12 | Wednesday, March 29, 2017 | Lahontan Valley News

TIMELINE February 23 officials March 15

February 17
X Pre-construction meeting to discuss
design and operation proposals for the
construction and use of an emergency
V-line spillway to divert flood waters
away from Fallon and into the desert.
February 20
X Bridge at Bafford Lane and river crossing
at Diversion Dam closed for flood
preparation
February 21
X Emergency Operations Center activated.
X Lattin Road Bridge closed indefinitely for
repairs. Bafford Bridge open.
February 24
X Planning for abundance of water in the
Carson Lake pasture and the need to
prevent serious flooding of U.S. 95 south
by working with NDOT to plan for instal-
lation of larger culverts under highway
February 27
X Chief and Homeland Security adviser
for the State Division of Emergency
Management, Caleb Cage, toured areas
of flooding concern with county and city
March 3
X Board of Churchill County
Commissioners and Fallon City Council
declare a state of emergency due to the
immediate threat of flooding
March 8
X Gov. Brian Sandoval announced U.S.
95 south of Fallon will be closed from
March 9-17 for NDOT to install additional
drainage culverts to help protect the
roadway
March 9
X V-Line spill weir operational
X NDOT re-opened U.S. 95. Twelve 6-foot-
by-f4-foot box drainage culverts were
added to the existing 10 roadway cul-
verts to help channel water underneath
the highway as floodwaters are diverted.
March 24
X Gov. Sandoval meets with local officials
and tours new spill weir west of Fallon.
March 27
X NDOT begins work on culverts on U.S.
Highway 50 east of Fallon.
Source: Churchill County Managers office

FLOODING
From page 1
worried city and county of-
ficials as well as the Truck-
ee-Carson Irrigation District
and Reclamation because of
record snowfall being record-
ed in the higher elevations.
The county wheeled into ac-
tion and began working with
other agencies, a step lauded
by Sandoval.
This shows what happens
when government can work
together, Sandoval said.
Both Olsen and Rusty
Jardine, TCIDs general
manager and legal counsel,
explained how the irrigation
district worked with the state
and Reclamation to begin
Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada Inc.
releasing water from the
reservoir.
Then, TCID, county road
crews and several out-of-state
construction firms began to
construct an emergency weir
and spillway on the V-line
canal, which delivers water to
the other canals. From start to
finish, construction took sev-
eral weeks to complete, thus
giving TCID another outlet to
divert water down a channel
and to Sheckler Reservoir and
an adjacent Navy training
range.
Everyone knew how much
water we had and whats ex-
pected to come, Olsen said.
Jardine said theres enough
water content in the Sierra
snowpack to fill two more
reservoirs the size of Lahon-
tan, a concern that worries
officials at every level of the
decision-making process. The
Lahontan Reservoirs capacity
is 295,500 acre-feet and is
currently 70,000 acre-feet
below that level. An acre-foot
equals 326,000 gallons of
water and covers one acre of
land at 1-foot deep.
Since February, Jardine
said TCID has reduced the
storage level in Lahontan
Reservoir to take in more
water from the Carson River
and released almost 100,000
acre-feet of water into the
canals, the Stillwater National
Wildlife Refuge, the V-line
spillway and weir and the
Carson Sink.
This water in the Carson
(river) is going to the sink and
not coming back, Jardine
added.
Sandoval liked the pro-
Churchill County.
Think about it, said the
governor, if we had done
nothing and just waited for
something bad to happen,
you and I would be standing
in 3 feet of water.
THE FRUITS OF PLANNING
After the meeting, Sandoval
received a tour of the spillway
and saw how water is being
channeled from the V-line
canal to the desert. Fallon
Mayor Ken Tedford said all
the agencies are meeting ev-
ery step of preparation ahead
of time. Retired sheriff and
current incident commander
Bill Lawry told the governor
he hasnt seen this much
water since the spring of 1983
when Churchill County expe-
rienced extensive flooding in
the low-lying areas and the
Nevada National Guard was
called out.
floods during December and
January of 1996-97 flooded
Reno, Fallon wasnt affected.
Neither did flooding over the
holiday season in 2005.
The cooler weather for
the past week has also given
TCID a reprieve. It enabled
the irrigation district to shore
up the spillways banks with
additional cement to prevent
crumbling into the channel
and to repair a damaged
concrete section from one
of the dams outlet tubes.
Crews removed and repaired
the concrete and reattached
it prior to an inspection on
Thursday.
A delay, though, has slowed
any release of water for at
least several days. TCID
stated concrete never met
strength requirements and
was removed Sunday and
will be re-poured Tuesday.
Jardine predicts TCID could
cubic feet per second from
the reservoir with up to 1,400
cfs going to the V-line and
1,000 cfs into the Carson
River after TCID receives
approval. Cfs refers to the rate
that water flows and equals
about 450 gallons of water
flowing in one minute.
With the prospect of
thousands of acre-feet of
water flowing into the desert,
Jardine said county road
departments dug out ditches
and a north-south canal to
ensure debris didnt impede
the waters flow down the
western side of the valley and
then eventually veer across
the southern part toward U.S.
Highway 95.
Jardine said several south
valley properties could be
in danger as water rises, but
TCID and the countys Emer-
gency Operations Center are
constantly monitoring the

Head Start
gressive action being taken in Although the catastrophic begin releasing up to 2,450 waters progression and will
take appropriate steps to noti-
fy landowners.
FREE Pre-School Program To help the water flow
under the highway and to the
For children 3-5 Years Old Carson Lake wetlands south
Head Start provides children with activities of the Greenhead Hunting
that help them grow mentally, socially, Club, the Nevada Department
emotionally and physically. of Transportation awarded a
APPLY NOW FOR FALL ENROLLMENT! contract to Ames Construc-
tion for the installation of four
For more information contact your local concrete triple-box drainage
Head Start: culverts 12 miles south of Fal-
FALLON (STILLWATER) CENTER lon. Olsen said the work was
8951 MISSION ROAD done in less than a week.
Call: Teacher KIM, BRENDA, OR RENEE NDOT and all crews
at 775-423-6351 or involved did fantastic work,
Janine 775-355-0600 ext 104 Olsen added.

CARE
NDOT will also begin
work on Monday to construct
culverts on U.S. Highway 50
between Wildes Road and
Macari Lane east of Fallon.
Our GOTTA without To support upcoming local
agency enhancements to the
GO SALE the Lower Diagonal Drain, we are
right now developing plans to
continues commute.
enhance the drainage culvert
which carries the channel un-
derneath U.S. 50, said NDOT
spokesperson Meg Ragonese
in an email to the LVN. As
Renown Health and Banner Medical Group are teaming up
We cleaned we finalize plans for these
drainage improvements, we
to bring advanced care closer to home. If you live in and
house and we will also be looking to do
around Fallon, Telemedicine allows you to see providers in
have LOTS OF all possible to reduce travel
impacts and any potential
MARKDOWNS! 30 specialties through a secure long-distance videoconference, highway closures for drivers
We are busting without having to drive to Reno. on U.S. 50.
Sandoval assured everyone
at the seams! at the briefing the state has
Our Sale Cart assets to assist local officials.
He said the challenge is
is full and we For more information, banding together to get the
call 982-6200.
even have a table of FREE stuff! preparation right. The gover-
nor lauded officials for their
801 East Williams Ave.,
40 E. Center St., Fallon Suite 2207, Fallon foresight.
423.0444 Blessingsinabucket.com The credit goes to you all,
he said.