With the water rising again following heavy rain around the area, cleanup of a massive log jam along the Smoky Hill River at Bill Burke Park in Salina is continuing.

Salina City Manager Jacob Wood, who appeared on KSAL’s “Morning News Extra” Tuesday morning, told KSAL News a pad site was built last week, and removal has started.

Wood said he received notification Tuesday morning that the stream flow is going to increase, possibly even to a higher level then the last two rain events.

Wood said work will continue while they “wait and see what happens with the river”.

On June 17th heavy rain was received in McPherson and Ellsworth counties and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the Smoky Hill River. The increased flow in the streams flushed tree debris into the Smoky Hill River. A large amount of this tree debris accumulated in front of the Scour Key/Weir Wall and adjacent to the City’s surface water intake structure located at Bill Burke Park.

The large-scale log jam caused by the flooding resulted in significant impact to infrastructure and presented complex recovery challenges. The magnitude and location of the debris area posed a threat to public safety due to unstable conditions.

At the end of July the city entered into a contract with Diehl Enterprises for cleanup of the log jam. It was anticiapted that once it begins, debris removal for the project should be substantially completed within six weeks.

The debris being removed from the river is being transported to the Salina Wastewater Treatment Plant, to an area used for equipment and material storage for a recent construction project, where it will be burned.