By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Milford Lake is at its third highest level and is rising, and the Smoky Hill River is a concern.
Emergency management, public works, law enforcement, county and city officials, and the Corps of Engineers met Tuesday morning at the Geary County Emergency Management Office. They were told by Ken Wenger of the Corps of Engineers the reservoir is just shy of 20 feet high and closing in on the second highest level ever of 1,169.92 feet that was set in 1973. A total of 51 percent of the lake’s flood pool is occuppied by water.
There has been significant impact around the lake with high water but some campsites and roads are open. Three boat ramps including State Park North, Military marina and West Rolling Hills are open. There is a lot of debris floating in the lake which means boaters should be alert. It was noted that the marinas are in bad shape.
At the 1176.2 level water will go out over the emergency spillway and the highest elevation ever for the lake was 1181.94 set during the flood year of 1993. Corps of Engineers Project Manager Bill Whitworth said the Corps is requesting a waiver increasing the flooding downstream, but won’t know for another seek to ten days if any water can be release. “But the intent is to at lease offset, release what is coming into the lake so that we won’t go up any more.” The amount of release will be divided among reservoirs in greatest need, with Perry and Tuttle Creek in front of Milford Lake. Milford Lake has only able to release water at the low flow level of 25 cubic feet per second since March 2. if water does go over the spillway on the south side of the lake officials expect it to follow the same path as the flood in 1993 and could go over or breach K-57 Highway on the southeast side of the reservoir.
On May 29th the Corps will hold a public meeting from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Geary County 4-H / Senior Citizens center to discuss where Milford Lake stands in the overall flood control picture. There will be an update on the lake, the impact on recreation, what’s available and what isn’t, and the public will be able to ask questions if water does go over the spillway on the south side of the lake.
The Smoky Hill River is also up. That river runs along the south and east sides of Junction City, but at this point officials did not believe the levee between Junction City and Grandview Plaza was at risk, It was noted during the meeting that farther west there has been sand bagging work done in Chapman, Enteprise and Solomon. The Smoky Hill River was at the 28-foot level now and expected to to 31 feet by Friday in Dickinson County. Chapman Creek is at 20 feet and is expected to remain at about that level. Lyons Creek which runs through Dickinson and Geary County is expected to go up a 32-foot crest. A lot of streams and creeks deliver water into the Smoky Hill River.
Officials confirmed that Dickinson County had obtained 7,250 sand bags issued by the Corps of Engineers, there are another 10,000 available at the Milford Lake Corps office and 100,000 additional sand bags stored at Fort Riley.
Representatives of different communities and organizations provided information. Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson announced that two water rescue teams are available and Sheriff Daniel Jackson said they will be obtaining an 18-foot flat bottom boat that can carry up to 10 people. There will be two deputies and two rescue swimmers available to go out on rescue missions. Jet skis and other rescue boats will also be available.
GIP Director Troy Livingston plans to identify properties in the flood plain and alert those owners and residents to be prepared if flooding develops.
Emergency shelters could be opened, if necessary, at the 12th Street Community Center and the Junction City Municipal Building Auditorium.
In Milford the mayor Brad Roether said he will meet with city staff about the steps that could have to be taken if the water gets close in the next few days to a sewer line. Some action would be necessary. He estimated another three-foot rise in the lake level would be necessary. “We’ve got some sewers that we’re going to have to tap. We’ll have to put a plug in them to keep lake water from filling our lagoon. ”