A flood of Biblical proportions

Howdy friends and neighbors of the hills,

It's raining again in Montebello and I would not be surprised to learn that, as usual, Lincoln Avenue has been closed due to flooding. For folks who don't live in the City of Montebello, Lincoln Avenue is a small, two lane road nestled between the eastern edge of the Montebello hills and the low lying, western bank of the Rio Hondo River. The Rio Hondo River still runs free through this part of what's called the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area until it hits the Whittier Narrows Dam. The dam, which is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is located just about even with the southern edge of the Montebello hills. The dam was built in the 1950's to help control the flow of the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Whittier Narrows Dam was included in a study of "dam safety" across the U.S.

The Army Corps determined the dam poses a "very high risk" of failure which earned it a rating of "Dam Safety Action Class II," the Army Corps' second-worst designation." You can read more about that rating at the Pasadena Star News. 

According to The Wave Newspaper, "The flood control dam north of the city could fail in a huge flood, endangering 500,000 people between Whittier and Seal Beach and thwarting a proposal to build a small lake behind it."

Yikes!

So what does this have to do with the price of tea in China or the Montebello hills?

Well, undeveloped land does a much better job of soaking up excess water than developed land.  Once you start "paving paradise" you end up with miles of non-porous asphalt roadways, cement sidewalks, and unnatural land shapes.  All of these increase the amount of rain that simply runs off the land and down into the storm drains.

In the case of the Montebello hills, if the developer has it's way, up to 100 feet would be shaved off the top of the Montebello hills to fill in the canyons.  Most of the rain water run-off from the proposed housing development would be diverted straight to the Rio Hondo River behind the "very high risk" Whittier Narrows Dam!

Now if that bit of news doesn't have you shaking in your boots yet then maybe the ArkStorm Scenario will!!!!  ArkStorm is part of the Multihazards Demonstration Project conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Just when you thought the worst thing that could happen in southern California is an earthquake called "The Big One" along comes Dr. Lucy Jones to warn us about being ready for another major disaster, massive flooding!



This is ARkStorm from USGS Multi Hazards on Vimeo.


Are the Montebello hills destined to become an island? I don't know, but if I ever have to high tail it to higher ground, I sure hope the hills will still be high enough.

Daisy Mae