The seventh annual Verde River Runoff was scheduled for Saturday, March 16, in Camp Verde. Coinciding with the Camp Verde Spring Heritage Pecan & Wine Festival, the day was set to feature kayak, canoe and paddle- board racing on the Verde River. But on March 6, the Friends of the Verde River announced that they would be canceling the event due to worries about safety from the heavy flow of the Verde River this spring.
“First and foremost in this decision is the safety of all event participants, including boaters, guides and volunteers,” Friends of the Verde River wrote in a press release. “Extreme high flows on the Verde River since the beginning of 2019 and continuing fluctuations in water levels have made it impossible to ensure that the race
course would be clear and safe for our over 150 boaters.”
With frequent rain and snowfall heavy enough to cause the first two-day school closure of Verde Valley schools in recent memory, the Verde River has been rushing with a water flow well above its normal level. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, which takes frequent readings of the river flow, the Verde River at Camp Verde was flowing at a rate of 1,310 cubic feet per second as of Monday, March 11, a significant increase from the median of 811 cfs for that date based on 40 years of records. That elevated reading marks a decrease from earlier in the week — the river hit 7,940 cfs on March 4.
On Feb. 15, heavy rains led to a peak of 49,800 cfs measured in Camp Verde. The river flow on that day was enough to break through the steel- corrugated Clarkdale Dam, which had been in place for 104 years without facing similar damage.
“It seems to us that probably more water has flown down the river in the last month than any year I can remember, and I’ve been on the Verde since the ’50s or ’60s,” said Clarkdale Mayor Doug Von Gausig, who also leads the Verde River Institute.
“It’s a good decision that they made,” Von Gausig said of the deci- sion on the Runoff. “I think the river’s going to continue to be way too high for that to be a safe run or to guarantee safety. Really experienced people would probably do fine, but not everybody on the Verde River Runoff is highly experienced.”
Von Gausig highlighted the importance for those who do choose to spend time on the river to focus on safety and insisted on everybody using personal flotation devices to deal with the uncertainty of the fast- flowing river.
In addition to the dangers from increased flow, the rushing waters bring with them debris, which makes any attempt to go out on the river additionally dangerous.
“We were out surveying parts of the river that were reported to have issues regarding tree blockages,” Bob Rothrock, a Camp Verde resident who volunteers with Friends of the Verde River, said. “We found that in a number of places the river has changed its channel and it’s running through the trees. This creates a situation safety- wise. Having an event with the conditions we have in the river would have been a nightmare.”
“You can’t get out there and do work to remove hazards while the river is still high.”
But Rothrock said that even if the heavy river flow makes things difficult in the short term, in the long-term this kind of heavy flow is good for the health of the river. The broken dam in Clarkdale — which the town had been hoping to remove anyway — has allowed the Colorado Pikeminnow, a rare fish, to thrive in the river. Eventually, the rushing waters that brought in increased debris should also clear them out and leave the river cleaner than before.
“Floods are part of the natural regimen on the Verde,” Rothrock said. “It’s good for the river. It clears out debris and other things that are there otherwise. It’s been years.”
While it remains difficult to make predictions, both Rothrock and Von Gausig said they expect that the heavy flows should subside by the end of spring, leaving the river mostly normal by the summer.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
