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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland Calendar, Jan. 23, 2016 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Why we love bombing ... City plans for potential flooding ... Ashland Calendar, Jan. 23, 2016 ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Why we love bombing ... City plans for potential flooding ... ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL City plans for potential flooding Fire, police would be stationed on both sides of Ashland Creek Comment By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 8:20 PM By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 8:20 PM » Social News The past few days have been unseasonably warm, with sunlight and light winds. While it may be a nice break from this year's wet winter, it has the people who watch out for floods thinking and planning. Sand bags stacked against the edge of Ashland Creek to discourage spill-over onto sidewalks and businesses should the creek rise. Reeder Reservoir behind Hosler Dam upstream has been as much as 94 percent full recently, according to Ashland Public Works Director Dave Faught, and the city is continuing to release water to keep the levels manageable should there be more rain and snow melt. If there's room in the reservoir, the impact of bursts of water flow can be managed and flooding of the type Ashland experienced in 1997 when businesses along the creek were under water avoided. Faught says they are releasing water at regular intervals to avoid this, but if there's a sudden warm spell there may be nothing they can do but get out the excavators and pull out the plans for coping. Those plans were presented to the City Council by Faught and the police and fire chiefs at its regular meeting Tuesday. With heavy snowpack in the mountains — 116 inches at the summit of Mount Ashland — a warm few days could cause snow melt and potential flooding. So Faught along with the police and fire chiefs has created a plan on what to do when “inundation zones” — primarily along Ashland Creek (plus some areas along Bear Creek) — are flooded. The areas are determined by looking at 100- and 500-year flood zones and more recent floods to see which areas are the most critically affected. Ashland Creek and some bridges would be impacted,” says Faught. Since creek flooding would make some roads connecting areas southeast and northwest of the creek impassable, “Lithia (Way) may have to be a two-way (road)” if other roads are closed, he said. Faught has arranged to have excavators on both sides of the flooded area, available to pull larger logs and even trees out of the creek in case flood water starts eroding the banks and tree root systems cause them to fall into the creek, which could create spot flooding. Faught told the council excavators should be able to pluck trees and logs out of the creek before the water backs up too much. Fire, medical and police personnel would be put on standby on both sides of the inundation zones in case of any emergencies. “We’ll supply adequate resources on either side of the inundation zone so there are adequate resources for everyone,” said police Chief Tighe O’Meara. Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins is a journalism instructor at SOU. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ @julieakins. By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jan. 22, 2016 at 8:20 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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