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Flood Training a Safe Bet in Reno
Author(s) -
Canning Sandy
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
opflow
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1551-8701
pISSN - 0149-8029
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8701.1997.tb02037.x
Subject(s) - flood myth , storm , hydrology (agriculture) , training (meteorology) , environmental science , floodplain , meteorology , geography , geology , archaeology , cartography , geotechnical engineering
On New Year's Day in 1997, Reno, Nevada, was inundated with flood waters when the normally tranquil Truckee River recorded its highest level since the flood of 1950. Storm waters rose quickly as a series of warm storms brought unusually heavy and extensive rain on top of an above‐average snow pack in the Sierra Nevada. This article discusses the means by which the staff of the Chalk Bluff Water Treatment Facility, built in 1996, trained in the months preceding the flood. At the pilot plant, the operators received hands on training in treating increasingly turbid water. This article talks about the lessons the operators learned through training, including the value of pretreatment and the use of soda ash as an effective tool. Also discussed is how staff handled the actual flood, including blending water, jar testing, handling fluctuations, and coliform sampling. Finally, the consequences of the flood and the lessons learned are discussed.