Homes, roadways flood in Aravaipa

By Steph Slater, Staff Writer
Published on Monday, August 14, 2006 10:11 AM MST

Severe flooding in the Aravaipa Canyon area, where the desert meets the mountain, has resulted in the loss of homes and livestock. Mount Graham has also experienced some flooding, mostly due to the lack of vegetation on watersheds after the 2004 Nuttall Complex fires.

Two separate floods, related to the burned out region of the Nuttall-Complex Fire in August 2004, also resulted in flood warnings issued for sections of Hwy. 366 at the base of Mount Graham on Friday, Aug. 11. Noon Creek and Wet Canyon are two separate watersheds that filled, causing floodwater to spill over from the canyons, creeks and streams and onto roadways.

“The Aravaipa access road is completely washed away,” Park Ranger Patrick O’Neill of the Bureau of Land Management, said. O'Neill, who works at the BLM's Brandenburg Ranger Station, was isolated in the area for several days until Pinal County restored access. It will be several months, maybe longer, before the entire road is repaired.

The Brandonberg Ranger Station, located on the west side of Aravaipa, was where O’Neill witnessed significant flood damage, which included at least four homes, livestock, vehicles, fences, pumps, tool sheds and other items.

O’Neill said two floods occurred in the early morning hours of July 29 and Aug. 1. The second flood, which occurred early Tuesday morning, was by far the biggest of the two. Flash flood warnings for the area were also issued Aug 7 at 5 p.m for western Graham County.

“Some of the residents who have lived in Aravaipa Canyon a pretty long time said this is the biggest flood they have ever seen — much bigger than the flood of 1983,” O’Neill said.

Although no human lives were lost, O’Neill said one resident lost four horses when they were swept away by flood waters late into the night. One sheep and four rams were also reported missing due to the heavy flooding that struck when Aravaipa residents were sleeping.

A large amount of riparian vegetation, such as cottonwood trees, pecan trees, shrubs, bushes and all types of plant life were also washed away in the flood.

“Everything in the riparian zone that lived along the creek is gone,” O’Neill said.

The local residents are also experiencing a high amount of monetary losses, particularly with the damages the flooding caused in homes. Three residents do not have any vehicle access to their homes and have to hike onto their property, he said.

“One woman lost her parents’ home, and she doesn’t know if she will be able to save it,” he said.

The people of the area were evacuated prior to the first flood and then had to be evacuated again for the second flood almost three days later. There were also several rescue operations during which some livestock were recovered.

“We complain so much about the drought, and then we complain about the flooding,” Bill Harmon, district engineer of the Arizona Department of Transportation, said with a chuckle.

The flood waters that spilled onto the highway at the lower regions of Mount Graham on Friday, Aug. 11, washed away rocks, sediments, vegetation and other debris.

“When water moves at more than 15 feet per second, that’s faster than a person can run, and it has the power to move rocks three feet in diameter,” Harmon said.

Ever since the Nuttall and Gibson Fires in 2004, the Arizona Department of Transportation has been busy clearing the roadways for mountain visitors following heavy monsoon rains and other storm-related incidents.

“This is not really that unusual for this time of year,” Harmon said. “This has been a wetter summer, and regionally, we’ve seen more water than usual.”

Maintenance workers typically close the road for a few hours to clean up the black mud and debris. The workers continually check to see if the flooding has receded enough for clean-up efforts, he said.

Drivers are advised to travel with extreme caution and never enter a water-covered roadway. The depth may be too great to allow a vehicle to pass safely and result in preventable rescue operations, according to the National Weather Service.

In the future, ADOT and the Forest Service are planning to reconstruct the mountain culverts that allow water to pass under the highway. Harmon said this process, however, will take some time and funding.

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Comments

14 comment(s)

Genevieve wrote on Oct 22, 2009 7:59 PM:

" I visited this spot in 2001 and had a wonderful time, in the two weeks I was there I greatly enjoyed the spring, the people and hiking in the surrounding area. The time I spent here was the highlight of my winter adventure. I played dominoes, drank tequila and picked up pretty rocks (and soaked in the spring of course!) It sounds like some terrible things have happened since and it's a shame that it's now closed. I would have loved to have seen it again. "

Tricia Wenzl wrote on Sep 20, 2008 4:32 PM:

" Re: Eve Batchelder murder-2006. I personally knew Eve as did many of my other co-workers and we were appalled that her confessed murderer was allowed to plead to a lesser charge (obviously) to escape the death penalty. This was a pre-meditated murder and kidnapping, resulting in the death of a wonderful, gentle soul not to mention leaving her two children without their mother! Jason Martinez does not deserve to live at the expense of the taxpayers with the chance that he could be paroled! Society cannot afford to be "soft" for the fear of peer pressure. "

ciara wrote on Jul 17, 2008 9:06 PM:

" hi i would like to know what time the pool opens "

Warnar Moll Amsterdam The Netherlands wrote on Jul 14, 2008 11:20 AM:

" I agree with Rustom Kevala.
In literature there are many scientific indications that the preparation of the sacred liquid (Haoma),could not contain a Hallucinogen-Entheogen drug (cf publications of Harry Falk, Jan Houben, Frits Staal and the late Mary Boyce).
As a plant-physiologist and toxicologian, I did some study about the preparation of Parahom (as described in Avesta). From the scientic point of view it is impossible that the sacred drink is hallucinogen.
I do not understand the arguments of the Pima's Church of Cognizance.
It is as stupid as the assert: Jesus used Marihuana. "

tom wrote on Apr 19, 2008 3:15 PM:

" if having someone go through something like especially a child is not an invasion of privacy then nothing is but then thats the 9th circus for you "

F THE SYSTEM!!! wrote on Feb 14, 2008 9:15 AM:

" Who cares about ibuprofen anyways! its just a pill that peopel take for headaches and aches who cares about what the school system. If someone suffers from chronic headaches and stuff like that they should be allowed to carry it around. IT was a bad thing to distribute it around to others, but they should be able to keep it anyway. Its not like teachers are all that willing to let students out of the classroom just because of a headache!!! SMS should be sued. Strip searching a student like that should NOT BE ALLOWED!!!! "

LaVae McClellan wrote on Feb 5, 2008 1:51 PM:

" Eric and Kevin Yazzie are my brothers, they always will be. Yeah its true they had a history of fighting, but thats all u see. The Eric and Kevin i know are happy and fun loving, make everybody laugh. I miss kevin, but theres nothing we can do for him now. As for Eric they need to let my brother go already "

joe tapia wrote on Dec 9, 2007 8:05 PM:

" I have spent half of my life in this canyon along with my cusion juan luepke and I would like to know what threats to the public that our gate is causing. there is another way into the canyon then through our property. Just before you get to the cobra guest ranch on klondyke rd take the tully springs\old aravaipa town turn follow for about 4 miles there is a side road just after the second cattle guard the road turns east you have to open a few gates but there not locked. "

JOE TAPIA wrote on Dec 9, 2007 12:11 AM:

" THE ROAD THAT EVERY ONE HAS USED FOR THE LAST 20-30 YEARS, Is owned by my family. as I have been told to me by my father that the b.l.m and nature conseverency asked to use our road because their easement down by the river kept getting washed out by floods.So when norma put the gate up the b.l.m asked the conservency to redo the road by the river again conservency said no way. By,joe tapia "

Katelynn Nichols wrote on Dec 7, 2007 5:34 PM:

" Clifford Bea Fowler is My uncle ans my cousin Kelci's dad he may be a white supremeist but he still loves his daughter.But he should be held responsible for his actions. "

Stephen wrote on Nov 30, 2007 8:57 AM:

" My thoughts and prayer's go out to the late Bobby Bell's family. "

SMSmom wrote on Nov 9, 2007 12:11 PM:

" I will be notified if my child is in so much trouble that he may need to be stripped searched. "Depending on circumstances"--NO I WILL BE NOTIFIED!!! TRY ME!!! "

Keisha wrote on Oct 27, 2007 8:03 PM:

" I'm sure if these guys were a threat to society action would of been taken. I'm not condoning such behavior but Linda sounds like she's up to no good. "

linda wrote on Oct 26, 2007 11:59 AM:

" Is there any way to post the photos of these molesters "in" the schools so that the children and school staff may detect any possible molesters? After all they are the ones who would most likely see them. "

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