Grant County Emergency Emergency Management Coordinator Ted Williams, left, and County Commissioner Chris Labhart look at maps for a flood mitigation project at a town hall meeting Dec. 16 in Canyon City.

After the Canyon Creek Complex fire destroyed homes and acres of vegetation, work continues to mitigate the risk of flooding exacerbated by barren landscape.

Grant County Emergency Management Coordinator Ted Williams said low-lying areas near Canyon Creek could be at increased risk of flooding for about five years until new vegetation establishes itself within the watershed.

He said an early warning system that could send mass alerts to people in a designated area could be approved as soon as Dec. 23, and the county is continuing with a plan to increase the amount of water Canyon Creek can accommodate before flooding.

Doug Ferguson, the engineer in charge of a plan to build up low-lying walls along 6,000 feet of the creek using earthen berms, concrete blocks and sandbags, said the county knew it needed to be proactive after the fire. He said, although the best long-term solution would be to dredge the creek to make it deeper, the authorization required to do so would be difficult to obtain. The current project, he said, was a positive first step.

The county held meetings Dec. 16 to explain the project to landowners who would be affected. Ferguson said easements are needed from about 30-40 landowners, so crews can begin working on the project.

County Commissioner Chris Labhart said the county plans to purchase a machine that can fill more than 500 sandbags per hour, as about 45,000 are needed for the project. AmeriCorps volunteers have also spent hours filling sandbags for the project, and another 15,000 have been purchased.

“A lot of times, people are reactive, but we’re taking a proactive approach,” Labhart said. “The cooperation between the county and the state and the local cities has been excellent.”