Phoenix (3TV/CBS 5) — 2022 was a very “wet” monsoon. In fact, it was the seventh wettest summer storm season on record. In Phoenix it dropped more than 2 inches from July to September. It was raining here in the Valley, but it was also raining in Northern Arizona. Dropped over 10.5 inches at Flagstaff. Heavy rains have saved dry forests, but have also brought massive flooding to some of the scars left behind by recent wildfires. We decided to revisit one of the worst hit areas on the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Mountains.
Hydrologist and watershed program manager Kate Day unlocks a part of nature that was once pristine. Coconino National Forest It remains off-limits to the public. Reflecting on the smooth slopes of the hill, Day explained: Burnt scars from a pipeline fire like the old schultz creek fire Mr Day said: “These areas are really high-risk areas.
The power of flash floods after last summer’s monsoon storms is evident everywhere in this area of the forest. Deep fissures in the once fertile forest floor, huge rocks and dead trees thrown beside the waters that cascade down the blackened hillsides. “A channel like this can literally fill up with debris and water in minutes from these conditions during the monsoon season,” says Day.
We were sitting in a portion of the Coconino National Forest that burned in the 2010 Schultz Fire. Thirteen years later, the hillside looks different with lots of fallen trees and bushes. This is good because these plants and shrubs help hold the soil in place. But the slopes of the hill, which was reburned by the Schultz fire and reburned during pipeline construction last year, are perfectly smooth. When a monsoon storm hits, its elevation and smoothness dramatically increase the risk of flooding on the descent.
Sandbags, still in place from last year, show the remains of homes standing beneath the wreckage as construction workers rush to complete various measures to control these floods. Mr Day said: “There are channels coming in from the hillsides. When water enters these flat areas, we dig them out and put in large rock control structures to disperse the flow and sediment. , delaying the water before it enters the area.”
Coconino County and County Officials flood control district We describe this kind of effort as “plug and spread.” Effectively reduce sedimentation in rivers, reduce flood spread and slow erosion. The design minimizes circumvention as it utilizes the existing forest creek bed. They believe these efforts will allow the City of Flagstaff’s new flood storage facilities at Schultz Pass Road and Mount Elden Lookout Road to function more effectively. Restoration of the particular Schultz Creek watershed is estimated to cost him more than $5 million using federal funds. The County’s Flood Control District has invested more than $31 million in the past decade in this area alone. County and tribal lands will receive millions more in federal funding for flood mitigation efforts from an omnibus appropriation bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in late 2022.
In neighborhoods just northeast of Flagstaff, mitigation efforts can be seen in full swing. Construction workers will cover these canals with concrete to keep water and debris away from the neighborhood. With human intervention happening underground, we return to the lunar landscape where Mother Nature provided the material to heal the forest.
Mr Day said: “That record-breaking winter really helped us. It really helped us go green.” So how important is it for people to pay attention to the weather? Day says it’s very important. “I don’t think people realize how fancy these systems are,” she says. “As I said earlier, you can go from nothing to a flow at scale within minutes.”
Was there a spelling or grammar mistake in the story? Click here to report And please include the article headline in your email.
Have a breaking news photo or video? Submit it to us here with brief explanation
Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. all rights reserved.
