{"id":2446055,"date":"2019-07-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-06T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=309007"},"modified":"2019-07-08T07:49:11","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T13:49:11","slug":"river-side-residents-in-aspen-midvalley-prepared-but-didnt-panic-about-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/river-side-residents-in-aspen-midvalley-prepared-but-didnt-panic-about-runoff\/","title":{"rendered":"River-side residents in Aspen, midvalley prepared but didn\u2019t panic about runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.6513409961686\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-309007-160\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | Hap Bruce fills sandbags Wednesday at his River Oaks neighborhood in Basalt. The longtime resident of the area wasn't worried about major flooding but wanted to shield a low spot in his yard on the Roaring Fork River.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Hap Bruce fills sandbags Wednesday at his River Oaks neighborhood in Basalt. The longtime resident of the area wasn&#8217;t worried about major flooding but wanted to shield a low spot in his yard on the Roaring Fork River.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619.jpg\" alt=\"Hap Bruce fills sandbags Wednesday at his River Oaks neighborhood in Basalt. The longtime resident of the area wasn't worried about major flooding but wanted to shield a low spot in his yard on the Roaring Fork River.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times | Basalt Mayor Jacque Whitsitt checks the Roaring Fork River in her backyard Wednesday. The sandbags on the left are leftover from past high water years. About 100 sandbags on the right were added Tuesday as a precaution.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Basalt Mayor Jacque Whitsitt checks the Roaring Fork River in her backyard Wednesday. The sandbags on the left are leftover from past high water years. About 100 sandbags on the right were added Tuesday as a precaution.<\/strong><br \/>Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/07\/riverlevels-atd-070619-1.jpg\" alt=\"Basalt Mayor Jacque Whitsitt checks the Roaring Fork River in her backyard Wednesday. The sandbags on the left are leftover from past high water years. About 100 sandbags on the right were added Tuesday as a precaution.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/river-side-residents-in-the-aspen-midvalley-prepared-but-didnt-panic-about-runoff\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/river-side-residents-in-the-aspen-midvalley-prepared-but-didnt-panic-about-runoff\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">The Roaring Fork River is expected to fill its banks by this morning but not reach flood stage, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There was a bit of an unknown when the Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. announced earlier in the week that diversions to the Front Range would cease Thursday, resulting in an increase in the water in Lincoln Creek and the Roaring Fork River. The water company\u2019s allotment at Twin Lakes on the other side of the Continental Divide filled Thursday. As a result, an additional 550 cubic feet per second of water started flowing into the Roaring Fork River starting at about 1 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County Emergency Manager Valerie MacDonald said higher flows in the Roaring Fork River were evident Friday morning compared with Thursday evening. Twin Lakes officials told her the water levels released into the Roaring Fork wouldn\u2019t exceed 550 cfs. In addition, runoff levels are easing. As a result she doesn\u2019t expect problems with flooding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s past peak and it\u2019s not going to get higher,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"2\">\n<blockquote readability=\"7\">\n<p>\u201cWe got concerned in March so we bought 1,000 sandbags.\u201d \u2014 Bill Hegberg, Basalt resident<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The National Weather Service has issued a flood advisory for the Roaring Fork River near Aspen, but only minor lowland flooding is expected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis heavy runoff will cause the Roaring Fork River to hover near to above bank full stage into early next week,\u201d the weather service office in Grand Junction said in a notice. Bank full stage is 4.0. Flood stage is 5.0. The river was expected to rise to 4 feet by early morning today, according to the weather service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">MacDonald credited Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. officials with providing notice about its plan to end diversions four days in advance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt allows people to prepare,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who live along the river know what to expect and act accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the rise in the river was evident in places such as North Star Nature Preserve on Friday, it went unnoticed in the midvalley. Some residents of the River Oaks neighborhood in Basalt, including Mayor Jacque Whitsitt and her husband, Tim, added sandbags to reduce threats to houses, or in some cases, to landscaping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whitsitt said water has risen in a side channel of the Roaring Fork River beside their property in big runoff years such as 1995, 2011 and this year. The peak at her place was Monday into Tuesday, which coincides with when releases from Ruedi Reservoir peaked. She said the river\u2019s water level at her house didn\u2019t increase even though diversions ended and Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co. released more water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Rick Lofaro, executive director of Roaring Fork Conservancy, a Basalt-based nonprofit focused on water issues, said the increase of flows by 550 cfs on the upper Roaring Fork was offset in the midvalley by lower releases starting Friday from Ruedi Reservoir and probably because streamflows are dropping as the snowpack melts out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decreased releases from Ruedi Reservoir from 917 cfs to approximately 717 cfs on Friday morning. Ruedi Reservoir is expected to fill to capacity today or tonight. And right on cue, inflow to the reservoir is expected to plummet. The forecast by the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center showed in the inflow falling below 900 cfs starting today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Basalt Police Chief Greg Knot said no problems were reported on the Fryingpan River through Basalt during the period of highest releases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt put water right at a couple of patios,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Knott credited reclamation bureau hydrologist Tim Miller with keeping Basalt officials well informed about the timing of changes in the releases from the Ruedi dam.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The police department\u2019s level of awareness remains high and they will continue to monitor water levels, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The bountiful snowpack late last winter captured the attention of midvalley residents along the river, according to Bill Hegberg, a resident of River Oaks and vice president of the homeowners association.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe got concerned in March so we bought 1,000 sandbags,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty cheap insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Several people with riverfront property have old sandbags in place that became part of landscaped berms. A few residents added sandbags this year to cover low spots on their property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hegberg said his house is 3 feet above the flood plain so he wasn\u2019t concerned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe river is 3 feet below our berm,\u201d he said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He just added a handful of sandbags in a low spot in his yard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The timing of runoff of the heavy snowpack has been ideal. Instead of heating up for an extended period during spring or early summer, there have been cold snaps between periods of melting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been saved this year, in our neighborhood, by the cold spells,\u201d Hegberg said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">MacDonald and Knott said their primary concern continues to be people who enter the river. Numerous individuals have been plucked out of the water by Roaring Fork Fire Rescue\u2019s swift water team. The latest incident occurred at about 5 p.m. Thursday when a raft overturned downstream from Hook\u2019s Bridge in the midvalley. Two men, a women and a dog swam to an island, called authorities and waited for aid rather than attempt to cross the fast-moving water to shore, according to Kevin Issel, deputy chief with the fire department. No one was injured and they did exactly the right thing to seek help, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sixteen volunteers responded. They rigged a pulley system and members entered the water to guide a boat over to the island. The stranded river runners were hauled to shore one at a time without incident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A flood advisory was canceled Thursday for the Crystal River. The weather service said the river crested at 4.5 feet near Redstone and would continue to fall. Flood stage is 5.0.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:scondon@aspentimes.com\">scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/river-side-residents-in-the-aspen-midvalley-prepared-but-didnt-panic-about-runoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hap Bruce fills sandbags Wednesday at his River Oaks neighborhood in Basalt. The longtime resident of the area wasn&#8217;t worried about major flooding but wanted to shield a low spot in his yard on the Roaring Fork River.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Basalt Mayor Jacque Whitsitt checks the Roaring Fork River in her backyard Wednesday. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2446055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 22:57:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2446055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2446092,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446055\/revisions\/2446092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2446055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2446055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2446055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}