Minutes - 2006 - City Council - 04/25/2006 - Special
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EAGLE CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting Minutes
April 25, 2006
1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor calls the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL: BASTIAN, GUERBER, NORDSTROM, BANDY. Guerber is
absent. A quorum is present.
3. DISCUSSION:
Mayor introduces the issues. Were here tonight to discuss the Boise River and impact of
river flows within the City of Eagle.
Mayor introduces the following panel:
Steve Sweet, Flood District # 10 - history of the Boise River and Eagle Island. The head
of Eagle Island is a perfect split for irrigation. The North Channel handles a higher flow
than the South Channel. Discussion on the flow paths and how the water splits into the
channels. Trying to control the river with concrete and structural measures is just setting
us up for future conflicts and future problems.
Brian Saur, US Bureau of Reclamation - Discussion on Anderson Ranch Dam,
Arrowrock Dam and Luck Peak Dam and how they monitor the dams and when they
decide to release water. The dams are not to prevent flooding. The dams are for
irrigation control. This year we are looking at 140% run off. We are holding the Boise
River at flood stage.
Scott Vanhoff, Idaho Department of Water Resources - the last flood we had was a 100
year flood. The volume on the river has not changed for many years. The flood map is
changed quite regularly by FEMA. The current map we have was done in 1999. Much of
the river has changed since that time. The map is an optimistic representation if a flood
occurs. You can expect flooding beyond what the basic flood insurance map shows. Any
one can buy flood insurance even if you are outside the 100 year flood plain.
Gregory Grahman, Corp of Engineers: We have a limited capacity in the reservoirs and
they are not going to be able to contain it. Nobody controls the flow split of the river.
Flood plain is done at one analysis at one point in time which helps you with planning
and flood insurance.
Mark Lindgren, Corp of Engineers - there are to many uncertainties with the river flows
to build it into a map. Mother Nature controls the split of the river and there is a lot of
gravel that builds up. If you could control flows at the head of Eagle Island it would be
hard to control and manage and would give the desired benefits. You are all worried
about flooding and the big one is coming. If you are concerned about the current flooding
you should be planning for the big one to come. Congress has authorized a
Comprehensive Resource Study on the Boise River. We need a partner that will
contribute 50% of the cost of the project. If any of you are interested you can contact
Water Resources. It takes years and millions of dollars to complete these studies. There
are programs through the Corp of Engineers that can assist communities such as Eagle.
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We do not come in take over we assist the local communities. We count on the local
communities to decide what kind of support and assistance that is needed. Discussion on
the 50% cost sharing on the study.
Doug Hardman, ACCEM Ada County Emergency Management -1 am the emergency
management director. When 1 took over this position I was told that if the Eagle Island
area was ever developed that we would have flooding and problems. We have a really
good flood plan.
General discussion on the developments along the Boise River and floodway lines.
General discussion on how the decision is made to release the water from the dams.
General discussion on how irrigation fits into the scheme of river flows.
General audience and Council discussion and questions.
Dr. Robert Minch, Professor, Boise State University - At Boise State I implement and use
network management systems that can monitor various computer-generated data and
environmental sensors, and can send out alerts via e-mail, pager, etc. when anything
reaches unusual levels. I noticed that the real-time flow measurements ofthe south
channel of the Boise River at Eagle Road clearly showed the levee breach last Thursday
afternoon - the south channel went from around 3,000 cfs to less than 1,000 cfs in a
matter of minutes.
My suggestion and offer of assistance is this: If you do not have a system in place that
can alert your emergency responders in case of unusual flow patterns, I would be willing
to discuss how one can be implemented, probably quite easily. I would be happy to offer
initial advice at no cost as a public service, and if you needed to have something
implemented, I would also be willing to help you arrange to do this as quickly as possible
and at as reasonable a cost as possible.
Further general audience and Council discussion.
4. ADJOURNMENT:
Mayor adjourns the meeting at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
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SHAR0N K. BERGMANN
CITY CLERK/TREASURER
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