Corinne tries to contain Bear River, prevent damage

CORINNE, Utah — As the Bear River continues to rise, city leaders in Corinne are rushing to shore up the banks and protect property. And while that job may seem small to many larger cities, it’s enough to break the budget in that part of Box Elder County.

The water continued to rise Monday — about 8,900 cubic feet per second — which is double what it normally would be, partly because bodies upstream are having to send water downstream while they still can before things really heat up.

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“We cuss about not having any water and being in a drought,” Lyle Clark said.

It’s amazing the difference a year can make and how much your world can get turned upside down.

“One extreme to the other.”

Clark said he’s preparing to see what could be the worst flooding ever at his family ranch.

“I’m 70, so probably when I was 10, it did wash this road out down a little farther.”

His fields filled up over the weekend, forcing him to buy hay at about $300 a ton. And the runoff is likely just the start.

“Potential of possibly 14,000 cubic feet per second, so there’s a lot of water,” said Corinne Mayor Shane Baton.

Baton said the road may not affect a lot of people, but it’s the city’s responsibility to protect it. The concern right now is that it could get washed out, cutting off Clark’s access to his cattle and home.

“We had the bank break over here. It undercut and sluffed off. We brought in concrete and dirt and put that in over there to repair that,” Baton said.

And now, further shoring up the banks will be expensive.

“We’re probably looking at $150,000/$200,000.”

That’s about a quarter of the town’s annual budget. But Baton said they have options, including possibly declaring a state of emergency to get federal aid.

“We’re probably oh, six inches from it coming up over the top, washing out the road here,” Baton said. 

In the meantime, they’ll have to see how much work can be done quickly and how much it might help.

“You can’t mess with Mother Nature. The water has to go somewhere,” Clark said.

That work is expected to start Tuesday.

Baton said they’re somewhat limited on what they can do because the Division of Wildlife Resources manages the river, but he also said they, along with the county and state, have been helpful on trying to get them the resources they need to get it done.