Water in the River?! (updated)

Since we’ve been in Tucson, we’ve never noticed more than a trickle of water in the Rillito River (which runs across town towards the north). In fact, the River is primarily populated with lots of desert bushes, litter, and the occasional shopping cart. The last few days, however, have been quite different.

After it had started going down already, it was estimated at 15 feet deep. We’ve had more rain (especially in the mountains) in the last 5 or 6 days than we have all year.I heard the other day that there was a big flood in 1983, and there was more water yesterday than there was in the flood. They modified the river somehow after the flood, and that apparently helped. They did close at least one bridge, though, because the water was splashing too high to allow safe travel.If I come up with a picture of the river dry, I’ll share it for comparison purposes.

Update: Today I found out that a bridge over the Santa Cruz River (the Rillito mentioned above drains into this river) has been closed due to potential structural damage from all the water (and no doubt trees floating down the river after being uprooted from the bottom of the river where they live in the dry season).Also, there are still about 30 roads closed in Tucson (one of them, in the canyon where much of the water started, wash washed out). I have a feeling this is due to the fact that so many roads run through washes, and those washes aren’t draining as fast as they normally do.