This story ran Jan. 19, 2023, the day after High Reservoir ruptured. The reservoir has been repaired but the city of Lewiston is facing at least one lawsuit from a family whose home was damaged in the flood.

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A rupture in a nearly 100-year-old reservoir released 3 million gallons of water in a Lewiston neighborhood, which caused flooding and mudslides with debris.

The cause of the rupture at the city of Lewiston’s High Reservoir near the intersection of 16th Avenue and 29th Street hasn’t yet been determined, according to an updated news release the city issued Wednesday evening. The rupture happened in the early morning hours Wednesday and a boil order for drinking water will remain in effect until further notice.

When the rupture happened, it sent water from the reservoir rushing to the north, resulting in localized flooding in neighborhoods in the Sunset Addition. Roads to the affected area were also blocked and the public was asked to stay away so crews could work and for safety reasons. There were no injuries reported.

Mayor Dan Johnson issued a declaration of local disaster emergency for the city. The declaration states that a breach/failure of a water-holding reservoir resulted in the flooding of multiple homes and businesses and compromised potable water for more than 24,000 residents.

The flooding and lack of potable water for so many residents constitutes a “disaster” and an “emergency” defined by Idaho Code. The declaration activates governmental disaster emergency plans and authorized aid and assistance.

A special City Council meeting will be held at 3 p.m. today at the Lewiston City Hall’s West Conference Room at 1134 F St. The agenda has a single action item of declaring that an emergency exists and the public interest and necessity demands the expenditure of public money without a formal bidding procedure.

Staff are still assessing the damage, but homeowners who are affected by water damage, like flooding or debris, can call (208) 984-7096. Carol Maurer, public information officer for the city of Lewiston, said Wednesday morning that no one has been displaced.

“We will address each unique situation as it needs,” she said.

‘A wall of water’

Xandra, who is the site manager of 16th Ave Mini Storage and asked that her last name not be printed, was contacted by police at 3:30 a.m. because of running water at the site, possibly from a hydrant.

Xandra arrived with her husband to open the gates. It was foggy and still dark, so they couldn’t see very far.

When her husband put in the code for the gate, it didn’t move. He got out and realized debris had stopped the gate from opening. So he got out a shovel from his vehicle to remove the debris.

Then they saw a wall of water. He jumped into the truck and the water went over the truck.

“We barely had time to leave,” Xandra said. “It came so fast.”

They drove in reverse up the hill as the water flowed down, hitting the storage units on the lower level of the facility. She’s glad no one was hurt.

City workers arrived and placed cones at the top of the hill, and later she called 911 because she was worried people would drive into the mess. City officials and the fire department then responded and started blocking off the area.

Xandra received calls all day from customers who wondered if their belongings had been affected by the destruction.

“I had a foreboding feeling this would happen,” she said. “It was a surprise, but it wasn’t a surprise.”

Xandra has been working at the storage facility for 13 years. She got used to the sounds of the pumps, but called for someone to check on the reservoir when it was making a strange sound.

In October, it looked like there was a mudslide and water was coming down the hill. She said that someone from the city looked at the site and said the water was from the gutters overflowing.

Lewiston Mayor Dan Johnson said he heard that there were rumors on social media about a leak at the reservoir but said there was no connection.

“I am not aware of any problems with the integrity of the structure,” he said. “That did not come up from any briefing.”

A scene from the Titanic

Audry Royce, who lives on Sunset Drive with her husband and four kids, was asleep when she woke up to what sounded like a thunderstorm, except it sounded like rain was dumping on a metal roof. There was shaking and glass breaking. She thought someone was trying to break in.

When she and her husband got up and turned on the light they found water swirling in the basement.

“It looked like a scene from the Titanic,” she said. “It was terrifying. It was a very terrifying sound and scene.”

They didn’t know what was going on or where the water was coming from. Royce said she thought it was a flash flood. They called 911 and were told what had happened.

Because of where their house is located on Sunset Drive, the water released from the reservoir came to their house. Royce said it worked like a “bathtub,” with all the water diverting to their property. Theirs was the only home hit on the street, except a neighbor who had damage on a retaining wall.

There is a storm drain at the end of the property and it took three hours for the water, including the 4 feet that was in their basement, to drain out. But it left a foot of mud in the basement and the backyard, which is essentially gone.

Royce is glad none of her children were sleeping in the basement, but all of their belongings that were stored down there are destroyed, like baby boxes, pictures and Christmas ornaments.

“Everything, it’s gone,” she said.

City workers and King Services came to help with the damage. She said employees from the city and King Services both said they hadn’t seen anything like the damage caused by the reservoir.

They also got a temporary heater for the upstairs so they can stay in the home. Royce is trying to keep things as normal as she can for the kids, who went to Cornerstone Christian School while the damage was cleaned.

Royce called City Hall to give them the family’s information and get paperwork for a tort claim, which is the first step in seeking compensation in an accident. Insurance won’t cover the damage.

“All the people from the city of Lewiston have been very kind and helpful,” Royce said. “All the city workers we encountered have wanted to go above and beyond to help us. It made it easier knowing they want to make it right.”

Taking it one day a time

Dodd Snodgrass, who lives on the 2400 block of 13th Avenue, said early in the morning he was listening to a sleep video and heard some rumbling he thought was someone taking their garbage out.

“I definitely didn’t think it was something like this,” he said.

When he woke up at 6:30 a.m., his wife, Becky, said, “I think there’s a lake out there.” That’s when he realized what happened — the reservoir had burst.

He recently had some landscaping work done on his yard, which was destroyed. The yard has a hill that runs to the backyard, which brought the water, mud and debris with it. Some personal items, like framed pictures, from the storage unit were also in his yard, mixed in with the mud.

Snodgrass said the area used to have a creek in it, so the water followed its natural course.

“I know the city is doing everything they can to respond,” Snodgrass said, but the question on his mind as well as many neighbors was how it happened.

He’s grateful that it was only property damage and no one was hurt. He was also notified about filing a tort claim with the city.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” he said. “I’ll just take it one day at a time.”

A lucky break

Pamela Christiansen lives on the 2400 block of 12th Avenue. When her dogs woke up around 4 a.m., she heard what sounded like an engine, but when she looked outside, she didn’t see anything because it was pitch black. She never suspected it was water.

She counts herself lucky, though, that the water missed her property, thanks to her land being slightly higher than her neighbor, who had 4 feet of water in her basement.

“So I bit the bullet on this one,” Christiansen said. “I didn’t get a drop of water, pure lucked out.”

Her son, Eric Christiansen, stopped by to check in. He said that because the ground was frozen, the water stayed on top rather than getting absorbed by the grass and dirt.

“What a mess,” Pamela Christiansen said, looking out over the neighborhood, which had deep mud, rocks and other debris.

The material plugged all the drainage in the area. It was also garbage day, so garbage bags littered the streets, in addition to the mud.

The reservoir

According to the city of Lewiston Water System Facility Plan, the reservoir that failed was the High Reservoir, which has a maximum capacity of 4.7 million gallons of water and a depth of 24.5 feet. The reservoir is made of reinforced concrete with a wooden roof and was built in 1924.

The reservoir was last cleaned and inspected May 2017 and repairs were completed August 2018. In the inspection, some cracks were found, including a crack 2½ inches wide along with sediment staining, corrosion and exposed rebar. The cracks and exposed metal were repaired with food-grade epoxy, which is a resin adhesive that is safe for consumption. Surface corrosion was noted on the roof supports, although a new roof was built in 2003.

In the plan’s recommendations for the reservoir, there were no notes about replacing the facility; however, upgrades to the reservoir as well as other areas in the city’s water system were noted to improve the reservoir’s storage. Those upgrades included the motors at the water treatment plant booster station, upgrading Well No. 3 or constructing an additional well and adding a shift at the water treatment plant to maintain a tighter operating level.

City response

The repairs to the city water system has various rules to follow to protect the water supply, limitations on what the system can do, as well as decisions that will provide a resolution for residents, Johnson said.

“It’s like a big math problem and we’re gonna get it solved,” he said. “This is why we pay these professionals, is to have that knowledge. It’s sometimes easy to take that for granted.”

Although there is another reservoir nearby, there are factors to consider, such as elevation, high pressure systems versus low pressure systems, which is why it’s a challenge to restore water service. Water pressure has to be maintained, so it can’t be turned off to remove the contaminated water from the pipes. Maurer said that although the reservoir was ruptured, water pressure was still being maintained by staff.

An assessment is being done to create a plan to restore the system.

A command team was assembled by 7 a.m. Wednesday to address the issue. Johnson said department directors for the city have been going through incident command training to prepare them for an event like the ruptured reservoir. The training helped them address the situation quickly and they were able to use what they learned from the training.

“I’m awfully proud of the speed and efficiency of the staff,” Johnson said, including setting up the command center and ordering supplies of bottled water. Johnson also contacted residents affected by the damage and gave them information on assistance from the event.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.