Another step is being taken to ensure Scotts Flat Dam can withstand even the worst-possible high water situation. Nevada Irrigation District Public Information Officer Tomi Riley says a stability analysis has already been conducted as to how the spillway could withstand a so-called “probable maximum flood”. She says that looks at the greatest likely depth of precipitation for a given duration that is physically possible for a given-size storm, in a particular geographical location, and in a certain time of year…

So, Riley says, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Division of Safety of Dams require that a physical hydraulic model be built and experimented with, in order to change the geometry of the spillway…

The District’s Board of Directors has approved another 374-thousand dollars on top of the 790-thousand that was approved in August of last year. Riley says the highest-ever recorded flow from the Scotts Flat Spillway was only four-thousand-500 cubic feet-per-second, in 1997, when there was flooding in the valley. She says the modeling will be for 24-thousand c-f-s.