KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Crews are working against the clock to replace a damaged river levy on Fourth of July Creek in Kootenai County.
“About 600 acres of fields upstream would be submerged and that water would go about two miles upstream,” said Ben Weymouth, the director of highways for the East Side Highway District.
Since the river levels are expected to rise a week from now, the project must be completed quickly.
“Spring runoff on the Coeur d’Alene River carries a lot of old mine sediments and contaminants down and nobody wants to see all those washing back out on top of these farm fields,” Weymouth said.
A number of organizations will be working together over the next week to replace the flood control structures and keep the creek from flooding.
“We’ve been talking with the Army Corps of Engineers a lot for some technical assistance on this,” Weymouth said. “Everything we’re building now is going to be expected to last for at least another 50 years so everything upstream should be protected for quite some time.”
Weymouth says this project would double the district’s normal budget for the entire year. Because of a state disaster declaration from the Idaho Governor’s Office, state agencies are stepping up with equipment and funding for the project.
“Quite frankly, this means we won’t have to cancel other construction projects this summer and we’ll be able to get this thing done without stopping all of our other normal highway district operation and maintenance activities,” said Weymouth.
Weymouth says this is a normal year for rainfall and runoff for the creek, but an above average year for water levels could have made this situation much worse.
The district is still working on a financial plan to cover the cost of the project.
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