Navajo County Government issued the following announcement on Aug. 22.
On July 25, a section of Millet Swale Dam along the Silver Creek Watershed impacting the Town of Snowflake and the Town of Taylor suffered a breach as a result of significant rainfall that occurred over that weekend. Prior to the breach, alerts had been provided by the National Weather Service and were pushed out to residents across regional social media channels. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Emergency Management stepped in to help protect residents by closing roads which were flooding or in danger of flooding, and sandbags and sand were made available free-of-charge to residents and business owners to assist them in protecting their properties. Communities responded in force by filling thousands of sandbags—some while still dressed in their Sunday attire. No injuries were reported as a result of the flooding.
“We are grateful to Navajo County and others for their response efforts on flooding in the Silver Creek Watershed. We are working with our local, state and federal leaders to help mitigate future problems,” shared Mayor Johnson of the Town of Snowflake.
Officials and staff from the Town of Snowflake, the Town of Taylor, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies, Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers, Navajo County Public Works, Silver Creek Flood Protection District (SCFPD), Silver Creek Irrigation District (SCID), and the Arizona Department of Water Resources worked in partnership to respond. The quick response and cooperation between staff, volunteers, and residents helped mitigate damage and threat to property and life.
“I’m so proud of the way everyone rallied together to protect our communities,” said Navajo County Supervisor Jason Whiting. “Staff worked around the clock with local officials and volunteers to implement our emergency plans and to look out for each other. That is just how neighbors help each other here in Navajo County.”
Moving forward, additional engineering expertise has been brought in to help evaluate the entire drainage system through the Town of Snowflake and the Town of Taylor.
“We are grateful for a partner in Navajo County who has pledged support and resources to assist with the breach in Millet Swale,” shared Mayor Smith of Town of Taylor. “We stand committed as a Town to render our support to the Silver Creek Flood Protection District to ensure a permanent solution to restoring the Millet Swale structure that has protected our community from severe flooding issues for many decades. While the monsoon rains have caused a mild amount of damage this year to public and private property, the moisture is an answer to prayers and a blessing to our lands and forests.”
Summary of events:
• July 20 – Heavy rain and flash flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service and pushed out to residents by regional social media channels including Navajo County, Navajo County Sheriff, Navajo County Emergency Management, and other agencies
• July 22 – Sand and sandbags made available free-of-charge to residents at multiple sites
• July 23 – State of Emergency declared by Navajo County Board of Supervisors which opens opportunities for State and Federal disaster assistance
o County Public Works and Engineering staff begin active monitoring of areas of concern alongside SCFPD
o Navajo County Sheriff’s Office coordinates closure of roads with active flooding
• July 24 – Navajo County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activated to initiate the County’s emergency plan for flooding, coordinate additional road closures to protect the public, identify areas for potential evacuation notification, and manage communication between agencies and the public
o Active monitoring of Millet Swale Dam ramps up and continues throughout the night
• July 25 – Breach of Millet Swale Dam expanded during the day and broke through in the evening of the 25th
o Active monitoring of breach site with SCFPD, SCID, County Engineers, Sheriff’s Office, Snowflake, and Taylor
o Evacuation of properties along Silver Creek ordered
Post-breach actions
• July 26 – On-site assessment conducted by Chief Engineer from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) along with engineers from the County and SCFPD
o Immediate actions identified to help secure the breach site
o County Public Works crews worked in partnership with SCFPD to excavate and safe-up breach site
o Staff installed rain gauges provided by ADWR and video monitoring of the site to provide early detection of water flows approaching the breach site
o County and SCFPD designed and installed a rock-lined weir system at the breach site to provide additional protection against further damage and potential flooding
o County and SCFPD secured services of JE Fuller Engineering to further assess and advise
o Coordination with officials from Snowflake, Taylor, SCFPD and SCID
• Ongoing – JE Fuller and SCFPD is assessing the entire drainage system to determine additional actions to further protect the drainage basis from flooding, including an evaluation of Silver Creek through the Town of Snowflake and the Town of Taylor
o County and Town officials are working with our Congressional delegation in efforts to secure funding for immediate and future remediation actions
Original source can be found here.
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