County gets out the antifreeze
The mountain is open, the streets are slick, and it’s time for the county’s Road Department to get ready for the winter. Mono County Supervisors approved this year’s snow removal policies and procedures at its meeting Tuesday. The county also approved the request from the Road Department to seek out its own avalanche forecaster in conjunction with a weather station at Twin Lakes and more sandbags to combat the coming “Godzilla” El Nino.
Mono County Public Works Director Jeff Walters told the supervisors that the county needs to be prepared for potential avalanche danger left in Godzilla’s wake. The county has plenty of avalanche prone areas, including Lundy Lake Road, Crowley Lake Drive, Lower Rock Creek Road, and Twin Lakes Road. Supervisor Tim Fesko said he took a tour of Twin Lakes Road with a local avalanche forecaster and saw “a potential for a nightmare” with so many avalanche paths along that route.
Walters said the snow removal road crew have been trained in how to deal with being in an avalanche—they carry probe poles and beacons—but the issue is, when is it safe for the crews to go out? The road crews start at 4 a.m. with the primary objective of removing snow from the road, Walters explained, not necessarily the snowpack and avalanche danger. Walters said he errs on the side of caution when faced with an avalanche area, “I’m not going to subject my road crew to danger.”
But having a weather station at Twin Lakes, and the expertise of an avalanche forecaster to interpret the conditions and determine the level of potential danger, would improve the safety of road crews. An avalanche expert could have more knowledge of when avalanche danger is not as high as an experienced road crew member may determine, and allow a road to be plowed and residents safe to travel.
Godzilla could bring heavy rains and maybe floods and mudslides. After two floods in Chalfant Valley this year and the potential for major flooding in the post-fire Swall Meadows area, the county and other agencies have been discussing ways to prepare for a wet winter. Supervisor Fred Stump said he has been talking with the Bureau of Land Management, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Caltrans about flood issues in prone areas, particularly along Highway 6.
One of the issues with the Chalfant flood was the lack of sandbags and sand. In the end, the Supervisors approved $15,000 to go toward the bags, sand, the weather station and approved a request for proposal (RFP) for an avalanche forecaster.
Godzilla is creating jobs. The county’s RFP makes three avalanche specialist positions open in the area (See ESAC story).
