Sandoval County officials have become cautiously optimistic regarding river conditions in Jemez and San Ysidro after nearly a week of flooding.
“The weather seems to be pulling in our favor, and we hope that over the next few days this will crest, and start to go down as the snow melt gets off the mountain, and into the river, but not all at once," Wayne Johnson, a Sandoval County manager, recently told KOB 4. "The snow melt is being slowed down by the cooler weather, allowing emergency management to work on repairs over the weekend. The flooding down in San Ysidro, that was primarily due to a levy that failed. They did really good work a few days ago and were able to patch that up, and now you aren’t seeing flooding in San Ysidro."
Johnson noted that the main issue is at the wastewater plant in Jemez Springs.
“We’ve been working very diligently to find how the river water got into the sewer," he told KOB 4. “It shouldn’t have gotten in there, but it did and that’s what caused that overwhelming flow to hit the wastewater treatment plant."
Since the plant isn't working, the County was able to find a workaround.
“Right now it’s a waste holding facility more than it is a treatment facility, and we are having to truck all of the waste out of that facility down to probably Albuquerque where it’s dumped and treated down here," Johnson said.
The County is discouraging the public from getting into the water, having closed all surrounding picnic areas, fishing holes and campgrounds including Soda Dam and Battleship Rock.
“That is because the water regardless or whether we are in a flux state or not it is running very fast getting in that cold water it could be a real problem getting out if you make it out at all," Johnson said.
Other places that are being worked on include Hidden Valley Bridge off 126, which serves approximately 40 people and is currently considered unsafe, Johnson said.