Hot Springs County River and Stream Awareness program kicks off

Hot Springs County Emergency Management is kicking of a County River and Stream Awareness program this week.

Emergency Management director Bill Gordon felt keeping the public informed about the water levels in the Big Horn River and surrounding streams could help mitigate any potential emergency rescues from the river as well as help farmers and ranchers in the area to know when waters may rise near their pastures.

Using a simple signage system and a series of colors, Gordon can release information on what the conditions are via an ad you will find on the back page of the Independent Record, via the county’s website and at various businesses around town.

When the awareness level is green, conditions are considered seasonal, stream flows are at or near normal, and no immediate threats exist.

Jumping the awareness level to blue will indicate if there is snowpack information that it is flowing strongly or if the weather forecasts indicate a weather related event, such as a big snow or rainstorm, could affect water levels. Flash flooding will be included in the blue level as well as if there are extreme cold temperatures forecast that could create ice issues with the water.

A yellow level will be called when the release from Boysen Reservoir reaches the 3,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) level or when high temperatures create melting snowpack and runoff issues. It will also be used when ice is observed on the river.

When we reach the yellow level, signage will be put up at the Wedding of the Waters, the 8th Street bridge, Wakely Road, East Sunnyside and at the Terraces in Hot Springs State Park where the boat ramp used to be.

Orange level awareness will be posted when stream drainage has reached full capacity as well as when the flow from Boysen reaches the 5,000 cfs level.

If we hit the red level, it will mean the release from Boysen has reached 8,500 cfs, or Anchor Dam has reached capacity and Owl Creek flows are uncontrolled. In addition, in the winter when ice jams are forming it will rise to red levels to let those with livestock know it might be a good idea to move livestock from pastures near the water.

“I can’t close the river, I don’t have that authority,” Gordon said, “but if we can use this system to keep folks safer, then we will. This will be a year-round system, not just in the spring and summer when we have runoff.”

Along with notifications appearing in the Thermopolis Independent Record, citizens can go to the county’s webpage and find the icon on the top left of the page that will not only tell them what color level we’re at, but can go further into the website for more detailed information on why the awareness level was raised.

A complete explanation of each of the different color levels will be explained on the website as well.

Gordon said he will be keeping the Emergency Management Facebook page up to date as well, so those who are subscribed to it will get the freshest information on a daily or even hourly basis as needed.

The first ad for the program appears at the end of this story and will run on this page of the IR weekly.