Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Times-News headline “Oakley flood scare prompts new prevention measures” captured action similar to a time 30 years ago when near disaster brought the community together to build an emergency canal to the Snake River. According to the article, the canal diverted potential floodwater from Lower Goose Creek Reservoir from spilling over the Oakley dam spillway and flooding everything on its natural path to the Snake River – including the city of Burley. The spring of 2017 saw the same level of snowpack and flooding of area communities. It prompted the Goose CreekFlood Control District to approach the Bureau of Land Management's Burley Field Office to build an additional “sink trench” across public land to divert about 20,000 acre feet of water, allowing extended periods of water diversion without risk of soil saturation. Saturation of the soil would require the water to remain in the primary canal system, jeopardizing municipalities and farmland. An additional benefit of the sink trenches allows water to sink back to the aquifer, providing for precious water recharge in this drought prone area.
The Times-News headline “Oakley flood scare prompts new prevention measures” captured action similar to a time 30 years ago when near disaster brought the community together to build an emergency canal to the Snake River. According to the article, the canal diverted potential floodwater from Lower Goose Creek Reservoir from spilling over the Oakley dam spillway and flooding everything on its natural path to the Snake River – including the city of Burley. The spring of 2017 saw the same level of snowpack and flooding of area communities. It prompted the Goose CreekFlood Control District to approach the Bureau of Land Management's Burley Field Office to build an additional “sink trench” across public land to divert about 20,000 acre feet of water, allowing extended periods of water diversion without risk of soil saturation. Saturation of the soil would require the water to remain in the primary canal system, jeopardizing municipalities and farmland. An additional benefit of the sink trenches allows water to sink back to the aquifer, providing for precious water recharge in this drought prone area.
