Watertown city officials keeping a close eye on Crow River as snow melts
WATERTOWN, Minn. -- As the snow melts, the Crow River is rising near the heart of Watertown, with city officials keeping a close eye on it.
"Right now, it's certainly water levels are elevated but nothing where we're closing significant infrastructure or anything like that," City Administrator Jake Foster said.
Residents are watching too, but saying it's an annual tradition living in a town on a river.
"With the snowfall we had, I actually anticipated worse. Looking, driving around the countryside, like the snow is all gone and the rivers are coming up. That's pretty normal," Steve Hoese said.
MORE: Gov. Tim Walz says state and federal coordination "well perfected" as officials prepare for flooding
"It doesn't surprise me with the snow we've had and the river rising that there's going to be some complications like that," Dawn Kroonblawd said. "It's always a concern but you figure it out."
Flood forecasts have the Crow River rising to just under 15 feet.
"What they're projecting is still within that mild flood stage, not even in the moderate. So I think a minor inconvenience is a pretty fair assessment," Foster said.
Despite that, city officials are still making preparations to make sure the flood water doesn't become an even bigger problem.
"Sandbags are ready to go if water exceeds kinda where we anticipate it, we can put those out to kinda slow the rise of the water," Foster said.
MORE: In latest flood outlook, NWS issues warnings for metro
