The Daily News

After a public flood meeting Monday, the Breckenridge City Council convened in a special session to approve a resolution to declare a state of emergency. Because the flooding potential is high, they also approved two requests for assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — advance measures and flood emergency assistance.

During the flood meeting, Wilkin County Engineer Tom Richels informed more than 50 people Monday that water may begin to flow next week with the predicted weather. He said there is no full-fledged crest prediction yet and there won't be until the Red River hits flood stage.

"The weather system that came through this weekend was less than what was predicted," Richels said. "But it drizzled all weekend. It didn't add a lot but it got up to 40 degrees and lows in the 30s, which kept the snow melting all night."

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A current weather system will pass the area and temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to high-30s for two to four days with more sunlight, which means it will be colder at night.

As of Feb. 12 the snow-water equivalent was 3-5 inches. However, the equivalent in Traverse County, Minn., and Roberts County, S.D., is 5-8 inches. Currently, White Rock Dam is releasing 1,100 cubic feet per second and Orwell Dam by Fergus Falls, Minn., is releasing 900 cfs, said Richels.

"Just for comparison, Orwell last year was at 2,000 cfs due to the amount (of water) coming through," he added.

The diversion outside Breckenridge carries 65 percent of the water coming from the Otter Tail River, preventing at least 1 foot from entering Breckenridge. The diversion was built for an 18 foot, 3,300 cfs capacity. Last year, it held 20 feet and 5,000 cfs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the diversion will always have "plenty of room to carry the water," said Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth.

Richels has a weekly update from the National Weather Service (NWS) and once the rivers hit flood stage he'll have daily updates.

"Those calls are much better for us because they're much more detailed," he said.

Richels said the county has 130,000 sandbags stockpiled in a county shop across from Cenex in Breckenridge ready to be filled when needed. He wants to hold off as long as possible, but said they may start filling next Monday. In 2009, workers and volunteers filled 80,000 sandbags in two or three days. They will also place sandbags at Wolverton, Foxhome, Doran and Campbell. All bags and sand are free of charge.

This year, the county has access to 500 1-ton sandbags, which they'd use, for example, along Highway 210 by the Yaggie Beet Piler to divert water to the west, Richels said.

They also have clay sites picked out around the county and will be moving clay as soon as it is needed.

Since permanent diking is not completed on the north side of Breckenridge yet, both the north and south sides of the Otter Tail River will have temporary dikes built and along the Red River. One of the first places the city will block off is across Main Street, which only takes three to four hours to do, Richels said.

Barth said he is hesitant to again block off the Minnesota/Dakota Avenue bridge because even during 1997 the water did not flow over it. He and Richels are debating the possibility of building temporary dikes to the corners of the bridge to keep traffic moving.

The Red River level is at 8.7 feet right now. Richels said with the North Ottawa Project finished and at 100 percent functional flow, "it can lower the peak here by 6-8 inches." The project affects the Rabbit River system, which flows into the Bois de Sioux River.

Breckenridge will finish phase 2B3, which covers the south side of the Otter Tail River, this year.

Finally, the city has been working to get all pump stations in working order. Many electrical panels and motors had to be completely reworked. Public Works Director Jeff Muehler said some will be finished Tuesday, others are will not be completed until March 22.

"The project has been going on since last fall," Muehler said. "It just takes that long to get this done."

He anticipated this to be an issue, so Muehler rounded up enough tractors with power take off to run the pump stations, if need be.

The floats weren't working right in the stations, causing them to crank wide open and release water too fast, Barth said. That will also be fixed so they work at the proper speed as water flows in. The cost for this project was $800,000, which is paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and some through the Corps of Engineers.

All dikes, both permanent and temporary, are at least 3 feet above 1997 flood levels.

"If it comes over the top of that, I'm move to Fergus," Barth said, to laughter from the crowd. "I can't thank the city of Breckenridge, the people, enough for their cooperation."

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