Rising to the occasion in Stillwater

The city of Stillwater will not be caught unprepared this flood season.

City officials have already begun lining up contractors to construct a temporary levee, securing sandbags and putting in orders for pumps and other supplies.

Shawn Sanders, public works director and city engineer, said he expects levee construction to begin in early March.

"It would depend on what the water levels would be," Sanders said. "Obviously, it would be earlier if the river were to be higher."

In the most recent prediction it was estimated that the city had a 77 percent chance of moderate flooding this spring, according to a simulation generated by the National Weather Service. The next simulated prediction will be Thursday.

Sanders said the normal elevation of the river is 675 feet above sea level. The city would take action before the water reached 687 feet -- the same elevation as the Lowell Park parking lot.

Despite the strong chance of flooding this spring, Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki remains optimistic. "We have a lot of experience doing this," Harycki said. "The staff has it down to a science."

"Things are definitely looking worse than they did last year," Cooper said. "We've got a lot of water across the state and most of the major rivers are seeing increased levels for flooding."

The possibility of statewide flooding prompted Stillwater officials to order 80,000 sandbags to have on hand.

"We don't want to get caught in a shortage," Harycki said. "In previous years we might have waited longer before spending the money."

Stillwater City Administrator Larry Hansen said the city would prefer to be prepared: "I don't think there's an infinite supply of contractors, and there's probably not an infinite supply of sandbags," Hansen said, so waiting until flooding is imminent could be risky.

Frequent flooding

"It seems like the 50- and 100-year floods are coming every couple years lately," Harycki said. "I wish it were every 50 years."

If the water level is predicted to reach 687 feet, the city will begin constructing a temporary levee -- a venture that could cost more than $100,000. But it would be to preserve $25 million in real estate that could be at risk in the event of a flood.

Harycki said if the city needs to sandbag, it would need about 200 volunteers to help fill the bags. He said he has no doubt citizens would rise to the occasion.

During the 2010 flood, the city recruited 100 volunteers in 24 hours by posting a plea for help on the "I Love Stillwater" Facebook group page.

The success prompted the city to consider creating its own social networking account.

Harycki said he was impressed by the support residents showed last year.

"People really dug in and helped. It was a really nice, very satisfying experience just seeing that people still care and they'll do whatever it takes," Harycki said.

If the snow and ice thaw slowly, it is possible the St. Croix will not flood at all.

"We're not anticipating that, so we're going to go ahead with all those plans," Harycki said. "Worst case is we're all set to go and we don't need it. We don't want to be scrambling in March."