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At 12:25 p.m. on Dec. 29, 3.9 inches of rainfall over 24 hours caused not only a raging torrent through the Santa Fe Dam spillway, but had water spilling over the top of the dam itself. The winter storm responsible for the runoff created serious flooding throughout parts of Williams, prompting Mayor Ken Edes to declare a state of emergency.

Much as it did back in November, the warmer rainfall melted some of the remaining snowpack on surrounding mountains, adding to the runoff spilling into city reservoirs. Most notable was the Santa Fe Dam spillway, which was releasing large amounts of water into Cataract Creek.

By 9:15 a.m., reports of flooding and increased water flow began inundating the switchboards at both the Williams Police Department and city hall.

By 10 a.m., city, fire, and police crews had already been out in force for hours barricading flooded roadways and gathering/delivering sandbags.

While water department workers kept watch over the quickly rising Santa Fe reservoir, the rain, flooding, and scrambling of personnel continued.

Crews concentrated on the worst areas first — such as the intersection at Quarterhorse and Rodeo Roads, where existing culverts were too small to handle the flow of water, creating a virtual lake and causing minor damage to some structures at Kaibab Estates. The area at Alston Way and Eleventh Street had residents complaining of yards being flooded, and the Cataract Lake Road underpass where it meets Country Club Road was blocked off early in the morning.

Other closures included Pronghorn Ranch Road, a short section of Perkinsville Road before and after the city dam for about two hours, and Cooper Ranch Road, which was washed out in four places.

Others were assigned the job of preventative measures, such as shoring up weakened culverts and placing sandbags at danger areas.

With no particular end in sight for the precipitation — and the alarming rise of the water level at the Santa Fe reservoir — Williams Mayor Ken Edes finally declared a state of emergency at 11:48 a.m.

“The amount of storm activity was overwhelming our forces at that time,” said Assistant City Manager Joe Duffy.

Staff from the Williams Volunteer Fire Department and the WPD then began the task of warning residents that the dam was in danger of spilling over and that they may have to evacuate.

City staff described the evacuation area as basically encompassing the flood plain extending northward from the dam between Fifth and Seventh Streets down to Railroad Avenue, and from Franklin Avenue to Edison Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets.

“This is an old lake bed and it’s trying to fill up again,” said Councilman Cary Price, who was working with many other community leaders at city hall during the flooding.

Meanwhile, city officials notified the Red Cross, who responded immediately and set up an evacuation station at the Williams Elementary-Middle School for those who might have had to leave their homes.

At 12:25 p.m., city workers reported that water — already being released through the Santa Fe Dam spillway into Cataract Creek since early morning — had begun to spill over the dam itself.

No more than about a half an hour later, however — as if a prayer had been answered — the rain turned into light snow, considerably slowing the runoff. The waters — including those at Santa Fe Dam — receded substantially, and by Thursday, most of Williams, save for a few of the bigger problem areas, returned to normal.

At last count, only about seven of the 30 residents/businesses that had requested sandbags reported any structural flooding. Jeana Stevenson, who runs Hometown Video on Second Street and lives on the west side of Williams near the Alston Way and Eleventh Street problem area, was one. She said that new home construction has changed the flow of drainage near her home, causing leakage into her garage during the flood.

“I had water three inches deep all the way to the back, and I’m lucky it didn’t do anything to the house,” Stevenson recalled, adding she was glad not to have had to evacuate. “I think it (evacuation) would be really surprising because I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a situation where it got that bad.”

About an hour after Edes declared an emergency for Williams, Coconino County officials did the same for both Williams and Sedona. Just before 4 p.m., Governor Janet Napolitano declared a state of emergency for the entire county, allowing for $200,000 in aid from the Governor’s Emergency Management Fund to be used and for the Arizona National Guard to be activated if needed.

Williams’ own declaration by Edes also enables the city to benefit from Federal Emergency Management Agency grants above and beyond its share of state aid.

Though flooding did cause damage and had city staff/officials more than just breaking a sweat, there was good news that followed the storm.

As of Jan. 3, nearly all city reservoirs were at full capacity. Both Kaibab and Dogtown lakes were just over a foot from going over the top, while the city dam, Santa Fe, and Cataract Lake reservoirs were all at 100 percent capacity and still spilling over from the rain.

“We’ve got a lot of water,” announced Williams City Manager Dennis Wells.


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