[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 7/15/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

July 15, 2008

 

3. Watersheds –

 

 

 

Small flood, mud flow halt traffic on Isabella Boulevard

The Bakersfield Californian- 7/14/08

BY FELIX DOLIGOSA, staff writer

LAKE ISABELLA — There must be another way home, Dan Tanner thought as he stood a few yards from mud gushing down the Erskine Creek onto Isabella Boulevard.

 

Debris can be seen stacked along side Lake Isabella Boulevard after floodwaters hit the area Monday.

 

Floodwater crosses Lake Isabella Boulevard for the third day in a row leaving a trail of debris in its path.

 

People watch in the distance as floodwater crosses Lake Isabella Boulevard for the third day in a row leaving a trail of debris in its path.

 

Director Bob Lerude of the County of Kern Parks and Recreation inspects the damages to Lake Isabella Park after Monday's flash flood hit the area. "It might take about a week to clean the park," said Lerude after his walk through of park.

 

As his options looked bleak, Tanner just leaned against a fence with his bag of medicine hanging on a bicycle handlebar.

 

“It could be worse,” he said. “I could be over there with my inhalers on this side.”

 

Tanner and dozens of Lake Isabella residents waited Monday as water roared down the creek and poured mud over Isabella Boulevard — a main road between Bodfish and Lake Isabella.

 

The mudflow stopped at about 2:30 p.m., about an hour after authorities had recommended evacuation for residents of about 30 homes in the low areas on both sides of Erskine Creek from the Erskine Creek Canyon all the way to the Kern River, said Kern County Fire Department's Tony Diffenbaugh.

 

Even though Monday’s waters didn’t match the weekend’s water flow, where several people had to be rescued, residents should heed the evacuation recommendation, Diffenbaugh said.

 

“You never know how much water is going to go down,” he said. “It’s taking a big risk.”

 

The Piute fire along with recent rainfall have increased the chances of flooding in the area, according to Diffenbaugh. The fires destroyed a lot of plant life that would have kept the water from pouring down the mountains.

 

“That threat will remain until vegetation comes back,” he said.

 

Kernville resident Jay Loughrin said there’s going to be a lot of these mudflows in the area for a while. He used to own several properties in the Bodfish area and he said he has seen flooding in those areas.

 

“I don’t own it anymore and I’m happy,” he said. “It (the floods) will be a pain in the butt for a couple of years.”

 

The California Highway Patrol closed off the road while bulldozers cleaned up the mud. Some motorists parked on the sides of the road.

 

Art Teesdale drove up from his home in Bakersfield to look at the mudflow.

 

“It’s a very unusual thing,” he said about the flood. “It’s a good idea not to build a house at a creek bottom.”

 

Most people turned around and went down other roads to reach Bodfish. The road was expected to reopen Monday evening.

 

Tanner, who rode a bicycle to a Lake Isabella pharmacy to fetch medicine for his emphysema, had to wait for the mudflow cleanup. He lives in the outskirts of Bodfish.

 

“I have my son’s bike and if it wasn’t for it, I’ll be home,” said Tanner who was stopped on the Highway 178 for riding his bicycle. “All I have to do is get over this stupid creek.”#

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/497197.html