Yakima River hits flood level Friday

The Yakima River in Benton County reached flood stage Friday night, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

"There's a lot of water in the river," said Steve Sautter, Benton County Emergency Services spokesman. "There's a lot of debris in the river and it's going really fast."

The river in the Kiona-Benton City area reached its 13-foot flood stage around 6 p.m. Friday and was expected to crest just below 15 feet this afternoon.

By 2 p.m. Friday, it was just half a foot below flood stage, Sautter said. It rose 2.5 feet in about six hours.

"It's coming up fairly quickly," Sautter said. "We're starting to see some water in a few pastures now. It will be interesting to see exactly how high it goes."

That figure appeared to go up and down with the tide levels all day. Whenever Sautter checked the National Weather Service forecasts, the river was cresting at different levels and different times, he said.

The National Weather Service extended a flood warning for the Yakima River in Benton County through Monday, predicting moderate flooding of farmland, roads and some residential areas could occur.

Livestock can be vulnerable to localized flooding, and owners should have plans in place to move their herds to higher ground if needed, Sautter said.

Property owners along the river also were asked to move or secure boats or other equipment near the river bank to prevent items from being washed away.

A capsized red boat, which appeared to be about 14 feet long, was spotted floating down the Columbia River near the blue bridge Friday afternoon. It wasn't clear where the boat came from, but it's possible it broke free from where it was docked and floated downstream, officials said.

Road crews worked overnight Thursday and into the day Friday to repair a portion of Highway 224 between Richland and West Richland that had experienced "serious erosion," according to the state Department of Transportation.

"The timing of that really couldn't have been better," Sautter said. "If they wouldn't have jumped on it and had all this water come in, there could have been some other issues."

Walla Walla County officials were breathing easier Friday after they saw the minor flooding was limited to agriculture areas.

The Walla Walla and Touchet rivers crested Friday morning, said Gay Ernst, director of Walla Walla Emergency Management.

"There's no damage, to my knowledge, to any structure," she said. "We're on the downhill side now. We dodged a bullet."

The Touchet River actually had more water than officials anticipated, Ernst said.

The National Weather Service said the Walla Walla River at Touchet crested at 14.8 feet, nearly 2 feet above flood stage, but had only dropped to about 14.6 feet by 1 p.m. Friday.

The rivers were expected to fall below flood stage early today.

Though the Mid-Columbia appears set to avoid a major flooding incident, residents who rely on septic systems or on wells for their drinking water are being warned to protect themselves from contaminated water.

Well owners and septic system users rely on the ground as the source of their drinking water and the disposal of wastewater.

"During flooding conditions, the ground is saturated and water moves quickly through the soil," said JoDee Peyton, a Benton-Franklin Health District environmental health specialist. "The faster the water moves through the soil, the less cleaning takes place, causing drinking water to be contaminated."

When the Yakima River flooding in 1996, almost 40 percent of the first well-water samples tested positive for bacteria, said Dave Miller, a health district laboratory microbiologist.

Well owners should make sure their wells are properly sealed and boil the water to disinfect it before drinking it, if there's flooding in their area.

If there's any concern the water may be contaminated, bottled water should be used for drinking, brushing teeth, washing dishes or cooking.

Septic system users should conserve as much water as possible and have the tank professionally inspected and serviced if damage is suspected. They also should pump the system as soon as possible after a flood to remove silt and debris.