Mineral County Emergency Manager Patrick Hughes spoke to the board of commissioners and the public regarding potential flooding along the Walker River.

Hughes stated that as of April 4, the Walker Basin has 640,000 acre feet of water in the snow pack. That amounts to 2,008,000 gallons of water in the mountains as of that date.

The National Weather Service projects that spring runoff could continue into August. The most significant flooding will be within the upper basin area.

“There is going to be minor flooding everywhere,” Hughes told the commissioners. “If we get a warm rain during a warm day, flooding could be worse.”

Hughes advised that Yerington should be “hit hard” with the flooding.

Price stated that there are potentially ten homes in the Schurz community that could be affected by the rising Walker River. Price wanted to make sure that all rescue personnel are on the same page including the sheriff’s office, fire department and search and rescue.

“The big concern for Schurz is the city center and south,” Hughes said. “We are not looking at any impact on Highway 95.”

Churchill County and Lyon County have both declared a state of emergency though no flooding has occurred yet, as well as the community of Schurz. Hughes discussed Hospital Road in Schurz and what services will be affected, including the technology center, post office and police station.

“If Schurz continues with mitigation, like they are doing now, they should only have minor flooding,” Hughes told the commissioners.

Discussion about what will happen if there is highway closure around the county and if Highway 95, Highway 95A and Highway 50 would be closed due to rising water. Commissioner Price stated that the state already has permission from the governor to close those roads if flooding occurs. Other possible problems could be: those in need of out of town healthcare, lack of food items trucked in and loss of power, gasoline and propane.

“I would like to just put this on the record on how wonderful Schurz has been to work with,” Commissioner Price concluded.

A Town Hall meeting will be scheduled at a later date.