City leaders monitoring Franklin ice jams, emergency management team activated

FRANKLIN — After a resident notified the fire department about a flooding threat caused by ice buildup on the Winnipesaukee River Saturday night, city leaders are monitoring the river, although it has already cleared up significantly.

City staff issued a public notice on Sunday night about the large buildup of ice forming on the Winnipesaukee River near Stevens Mill. On Monday morning, leaders said it had cleared, and they do not expect flooding, but members of the fire department and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services will continue to check the area.

“What a difference 24 hours can make,” said Chief Dam Safety Engineer Steve Doyon, of NHDES.

Fire Chief Mike Foss said the department received a notification on Saturday from a resident at 50 Canal St. who was concerned about the amount of ice on the river. Foss went out that night, and met on-site with members of the NH DES Dam Bureau, and said they could see  water was flowing, there were no backups in the dam, and ice jams weren’t causing any immediate hazard.

“On Saturday night, we had flood lights and firefighters were monitoring the area, but they wanted to check in the daylight,” Foss said.

Foss met with leaders Sunday morning, and they determined the water was flowing as anticipated.

“But as an abundance of caution, we are monitoring the river for the foreseeable future,” Foss said.

Foss identified two factors for the extra ice this year. The first was the drought that preceded this winter. He said water was being held back in Lake Winnipesaukee, resulting in less flow, and more ice, in the river.

While Doyon said Lake Winnipesaukee is back up to its normal lake level, for several months, NH DES staff were only allowing 50 cubic feet per second of water flow, because the lake level was so low, due to the drought.

“So, that reduction of flow didn’t do much to discourage ice growth,” Doyon said.

The other reason, according to Foss, was temperatures have been so cold this winter.

Doyon said with frigid temperatures at night this winter, and not a lot of flow in the river, ice can anchor to the stream bed. He said it is possible the lower flow during those periods did create conditions for ice formation to be more aggressive.

On Feb. 16, the Dam Bureau increased the flow by 50 feet per day, to get it back to the normal flow of 250 cubic feet per second, which has helped move the water and ice.

Foss said members of the fire department are checking the river twice a day, and if water does back up and start to flood, there are contingencies in place, and areas to put people if an evacuation is needed. However, on Monday, Foss did not think this would be necessary.

There were no additional calls about the status of the river, and he agreed with Doyon it seems to be flowing much better than over the weekend.

Staff posted a notice on the city website stating that “no flooding is imminent,” as of Monday. Foss and the city’s Emergency Management Team were scheduled to meet again Tuesday.

Doyon said the main thing to do now is just continue monitoring, and be prepared. It is difficult to do much with ice jams, he said, but it is good for the city to know the impacts, and what to do if flooding happens to occur.

“You can never forecast what the ice can do, and if we get a real warmup or a wet spring, all bets are off,” Doyon said.

Doyon said Control Operator Peter Ames is often at the Franklin Falls Dam, and the hydropower dam located at Stevens Mill, so there will be eyes on the area in case there is a change in ice buildup for the worse.

Foss expects the city website to have an update Tuesday after the meeting of the Emergency Management Team at 9 a.m. City staff are asking residents to remain vigilant, and if anyone notices hazardous conditions, call 911.

The notice can be found at franklinnh.gov, and anyone with questions can contact Foss at 603-934-2205.