6/29/24
The Minnesota River crested in Chaska Friday around 6pm. We measured the elevation at 34ft at the Hwy 41 river bridge, which is just short of the 1965 record of 34.25. While we didn’t quite get to the 1965 height, Henderson exceeded the historic crest by 18in and Jordan exceeded the 1965 level by .05in, so we still consider this a historic event here.
What will happen now?
The river will start to go down. By about 9am Saturday morning, the river had already dropped about half a foot. Public Works staff will continue to monitor our levee and flood prevention system 24/7 until we get closer to moderate flood level which hopefully should be sometime middle of next week.
Reminder that some sections of trail along the river, the Hwy 41 river bridge, and Athletic Park are closed until further notice.
6/27/24
With river levels expected to crest overnight at a record of 35.2 ft, we wanted to share a bit about our flood prevention efforts. While the water levels may be record breaking, we are ready.
Our Public Works team prepares for floods before they happen by meticulously maintaining and monitoring the levee, lift stations, pumps, relief wells, etc.
The certified levee is built to 41 ft which does a great job of keeping the water out of downtown. Another element is getting water out that is already on the city side of the levee. This water can be from rain that occurs while the flood gates are closed or ground water that seeps up from underneath the levee.
To get this water out, we have several lift stations that pump the water at different outlets across the levee. Every lift station has back up pumps as a precaution. Public Works crews are working 24/7 to make sure everything is running as it should.
While our Public Works team is hard at work monitoring river levels and the levee system, they are also using this as an opportunity to document what happens when river levels are this high. They are writing everything down for easy knowledge transfer which will be helpful to us in the future.
Photo taken 6/27 around 6pm.
6/26/24
If you see some city crews moving around the levee by the Hwy 41 bridge this afternoon, our Public Works crews are building clay berms at the corners of the Hwy 41 bridge. This is being done as a precaution to prevent the potential of water from the river flowing around the bridge. We do not expect any impact from this, but we want to make sure we are prepared just in case.
Overall, our levee system is holding up well. Our Public Works has staff here 24/7 monitoring the river levels and our levee system to make sure everything is operating like it should. We appreciate all of their hard work during this flood season!