Watch a video of bridge removal work in Greenough ParkThe unusual response was at the urging of the National Weather Service, which issued a flood advisory for small streams in Missoula County such as the swollen Rattlesnake.
Of the park's four bridges, two were removed, including the main footbridge near the parking lot on Monroe Street. The park's other two bridges and trails closest to the creek are closed, said Becky Goodrich, Missoula Parks and Recreation spokeswoman.
“Parks and Recreation is taking these precautionary steps to protect citizens and help prevent damage to park infrastructure,” Goodrich explained. “While flooding conditions are present, citizens should be extremely cautious around all rivers, streams, creeks and irrigation ditches, and should be especially vigilant about keeping children and pets away from moving water.”
The park's bridges and trails will be reopened when water level drops significantly, Goodrich said.
Throughout northwest Montana, rivers and streams pushed at their banks Monday, sometimes spilling out and swamping low-lying floodplains.
But while isolated homeowners may have been affected, there were no reports of widespread flooding, and none expected.
“We haven't had any problems at all,” said Marc McGill, emergency management director in Lincoln County. “We had a little bit of water on one road, but it always does that in the spring.”
In Flathead County, a road near the West Glacier golf course was reportedly running muddy brown, and “we took a few trailers out of the Spruce Park trailer park, in Evergreen,” said county spokesman D.C. Haas, “but that was just precautionary.”
Emergency dispatchers in both counties said they were not receiving any flood-related calls.
Nevertheless, several rivers are running beyond bank-full, and more are expected to crest above flood stage in coming days.
The Yaak River was at 8.4 feet Monday, half a foot above the flood line, and was expected to top out late Tuesday just shy of 9 feet. In the past, however, the Yaak has topped 11 feet, and although it was spilling into riparian floodplains on Monday, most all homeowners remained high and dry.
Also in Lincoln County, the Fisher River near Libby was running at 7.8 feet Monday, slightly higher than the 7.5-foot flood stage. Minor flooding is occurring, and could become “moderate” if the Fisher crests at 8.5 feet as expected.
In Flathead County, rivers already above flood stage include the Flathead at Columbia Falls and the Middle Fork Flathead at West Glacier.
In Missoula County, water levels hadn't hit flood stage, said Bob Reid, director of the county's emergency services.
“I have had some high water reports up in the Seeley Lake area and in the Ninemile area, but nothing critical yet,” Reid said.
Most of the fishing accesses along the Bitterroot River are underwater and a few county roads near the river have been closed temporarily because of flooding, said Ron Nicholas, director of emergency management services for Ravalli County.
The river isn't expected to crest near Victor until late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, Nicholas said. So far, there have been no reports of flooded homes and nobody has been stranded by high water.
“What we are seeing is pretty close to what we see in typical spring runoff,” he said.
As water rises and rushes in the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers over the next few days, there's an increasing amount of debris such as tree trunks and branches being carried downstream, which is another cause for concern, Reid said.
“There's really a potential for that stuff to hang up in some places, especially on small streams and culverts,” Reid said.
Reid quipped: “Our rivers are pretty dynamic right now. It's probably not a good time to put your innertube in the Blackfoot - it's pretty risky floating right now.”
For causal observers, the Clark Fork may appear to be unusually swollen and loaded with junk.
As fast and rowdy as it may appear, on Monday the river was flowing through Missoula at 14,500 cubic feet per second, which is above average for this time of year but nowhere near the maximum.
High water in the Clark Fork hit 15,900 cfs in 2003 and 27,000 cfs in 1997, said Peter Nielsen, environmental health supervisor at the Missoula City-County Health Department and a founder of the river watchdog Clark Fork Coalition.
Last year, the Clark Fork peaked at 9,320 cfs, which is one of the reasons this year's high water looks so high and dirty.
“People have short memories, and we haven't had much high water for the past several years,” Nielsen said. “We haven't had a lot of flushing flows for the past five to six years - and last year the high water was a non-event.”
The woody debris may be a hazard to boaters, but it's a good thing for the river system.
“It's a sign of a healthy river,” Nielsen said, “and it creates diverse habitat along the way.”
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.
Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com.
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