Rapid City Journal from Rapid City, South Dakota • 11

3 B3 '7 SATURDAY February 1, 1992 Rapid City Journal 1HT ini (P a Soeartish i log Hot Springs Water hearing Monday High country snow pack deeper than last year By Don Grant Journal Correspondent This winter's first snow-pack measurements from the Black Hills high country are coming in, Lead and the results are posi-hhm tive. Most locations have snow depths close to, or a little above, last year's measurements. More importantly, the amount of moisture found in the snow is ahead of 1991 totals. At O'Neil Pass on U.S. Highway 85 south of Lead, the water content is just .15 hundredths of an inch below normal.

Even though it's close to average, Wednesday's measurements found the second highest moisture content since 1986, and the fourth highest in the last 10 years. The deepest and wettest snow was found this week on Warren Peak, north of Sundance, Wyo. More than 2 feet of snow is on the ground, and the water content is 10 percent higher than the 25-year average. the Black Hills sites. The Sundance SCS office records measurements at three snow courses in Crook County, and the Forest Services takes snow readings at O'Neil Pass for the conservation service.

"It looks like the Northern Hills are doing considerably better than the Southern Hills this year," Culver said after reviewing the totals. This is only the third year many of the snow measurement sites have existed in the Black Hills, so enough data aren't yet available to develop a formula to forecast how many acre-feet of runoff from winter snow pack will flow into area reservoirs. "We're working on it," said Craig Kjar, civil engineer with the federal Bureau of Reclamation in Newell. "In another year or two we'll have the data to make those forecasts." "The Black Hills is kind of an area that there hasn't been a lot of snow surveys done in the past," said Beard, who added that the SCS was contemplating additional stations in the Hills, "to get the coverage that we feel is necessary to do a good job." nals off ionized meteor trails in the outer atmosphere, down to receiving stations in Ogden, Utah, and Boise, Idaho. "It's similar to satellite communication, but we don't need a satellite," said Beard.

Someone who looks for a snow-course site hard enough can find it. They are marked with signs identifying them as a snow measurement area, but the exact locations are not made public for security reasons. "When we locate the sites, we try to put them in inconspicuous areas, out of the way where not too many people find them," said Beard. The SCS doesn't want the automated sites vandalized, and any foot, ski or snowmobile traffic through a manual site can affect accurate measurements. Journal photo by Don Grant Snow weight determines water, moisture content Range conservationist Angela Safranek and forester Craig Lundorff, both with the Spearfish Ranger District of the U.S.

Forest Service, weigh snow on the O'Neil Pass snow course. Area snow depths By Pat Dobbs Assistant City Editor Constructing a water well and, replacing an aging pipeline system in Buffalo Gap is a Buffalo Gap $486, 000 pro-mimhb posal that goes before the public Monday night. The town board chairman and a grant consultant from Black Hills Council of Local Governments acknowledge it's a pricey project for the 94 households and businesses of the 196 residents here. Funding now includes an $85,000 loan from FmHA, a $256,000 FmHA grant and a $145,000 state Community Development Block Grant, said Greg Palmer of Black Hills Council. How much families and businesses will pay depends on grant amounts and water consumed (meters could be added).

The current $10 flat monthly rate could go to between $16 and $20. "This is just kind of a feeling-out period to get public input. We'll attempt to demonstrate the need, show how much water is used, why we're in need of a new system and basically get before them what we're thinking about," said Town Board Chairman Emil Tutsch. The community has until March 1 to submit its CDBG application to the state. Palmer said because the project relied so heavily on grants, Buffalo Gap must convince the state to waive its 60 percent grant limit; "It's going to be a tough grant (application) to sell.

Part of, the problem is the city of Buffalo Gap does not violate any primary or secondary drinking water standard. If it did, there would be no question," said Palmer. Another problem is the overall cost. "The debt per user is pretty significant, but you don't know until you try, so we're going to try." CDBG awards will be announced by April 15. Without state the project is doomed.

"There's only so much debt we can incur," said Tutsch. "Our being so small, those are big numbers already." The town otherwise is debt free. "Thank God. But after we're done with that dump deal, I don't know if that will last." Like nearly every other rural community in South Dakota, Buffalo Gap is faced with closing its landfill by 1993 because complying with new federal regulations is too costly. The regular Buffalo Gap Town Board meeting begins 7 p.m.

at the city auditorium. Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines Technology, and a joint application with other Black Hills schools for grants to improve math, science and technology training. Hot Springs High School already is restructuring its math and science and technology programs, ultimately to show every student how each subject is related and how the latest improvements are used in the workplace. "My tenure here has been fun We've accomplished a lot. The faculty has done super work in providing quality education, and the community has been happy to be part of the restructuring process." said Scully.

By Don Grant Journal Correspondent This is the 49th year that snowfall records have been kept for the O'Neil Pass snow- O'Neil PaSS course mea-hbmbh surement site in southwestern Lawrence County. The U.S. Forest Service has been taking measurements at the site less than a mile from the pass summit since the days of World WarH. It takes an hour to hike from U.S. Highway 85 to the site and record the measurements with a 4-foot-long hollow tube at 10 points located along a 50-yard forest trail.

The snow is weighed, not melted, to determine the water content. "Some areas have stations that are five samples, some take three A combination of seven manual snow measurement sites and three automated sites, called snow courses, are maintained in the Black Hills area by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS). "Measurements are used primarily for water supply forecasts and reservoir operations," said Jerry Beard, area snow survey supervisor for the SCS in Bozeman, Mont. "Recreation and wildlife management are other important areas that this data is used for." Measurements are recorded daily at automated sites. The manual sites normally are checked at the end of January, February and March.

All data collected in the Black Hills are sent to Bozeman for analysis. "With the survey sites we have in the Hills, we, I think, pretty well cover most of the drainage," said Keith Culver at the Newcastle, SCS office. "A great deal of thought has gone into the location of these sites at the head of drainages." Culver tracks snowfall at six of and some have 15 or 20," said Jerry Beard at the Soil Conservation Service in Bozeman, the agency that tracks snow measurements in the area. "Snow courses can vary in length and shape depending on the terrain and location." Seven manual and three automated courses are hidden in the Black Hills. At the $30,000 automated stations, snow falls on a 10-foot-diameter rubber pillow.

"Actually, what we're doing is weighing the snow pack out with the pillow to determine what the water content is," said Beard. Temperature data and summer rainfall also are read by the solar-powered automated stations. The information is transmitted by meteor-burst-communication technology that bounces the radio sig Up ToDiet Center.8 Dieto Center' Pre urtgftt-ltKs pwastonals. mjinirnjrhf vji'rt i Kxcept for one measuring area, snow depths and moisture levels this year around the upper elevations of the Black Hills are up from a year ago. The areas and comparisons are as follows: O'Neil Pass in the upper Spearfish Creek drainage.

1992 18.75 inches snow, 4.15 inches water content. 1991 18 inches and 2.5 inches. Warren Peak in the Belle Fourche River drainage. 1992 2G.7 inches snow, 6.4 inches water content. 1991 22.8 inches and 3.4 inches.

Ditch Creek south of Deer- ministrator before start of the school year after Emanuel Moran resigned in June, the board decided in August to hire an interim superintendent and delay advertising the permanent post until February. Scully took a leave of absence Scully from his Canyon Lake second-grade class and came to Hot Springs in October. In the four months since, Scully said he had pushed for upgrading education in the schools as well as for the entire community and re- field Reservoir. 1992 13.7 inches snow, 2.90 inches water content. 1991 12.9 inches and 2.4 inches.

Blind Park in the headwaters area of the Rapid Creek drainage northwest of Deerfield. 1992 inches snow, 5.25 inches water content. 1991 23 inches and 4.3 inches. Maitland Draw in the Rapid Creek drainage north of Deerfield. 1992 10.8 inches snow, 2.5 inches water content.

1991 15.4 inches and 3 inches. Mount Tom between Newcastle and Sundance, Wyo. 1992 17.2 inches snow, 5 inches water content. 1991 15.6 inches and 2.8 inches. ceived favorable reviews.

"It's got nothing to do with my performance. In fact, they would like to have me slay, but they feel that they have to do a search and if my name was in the hat they wiuld probably have a problem getting candidates to even consider." Advertising in area newspapers starts soon with application deadline March 6. Scully said he would lead the district's search and screen process, which could see a new superintendent named by mid-April. As leadership prepares to change, the Hot Springs Area 2000 Committee has drafted guidelines on future education and is developing strategies to attain national education goals. Also in the works is a child-adult learning center, classes through Black ms ScuMy ft retina ft tieadhiiirag Still Dreaming of A Trimmer, More Attractive You? By Pat Dobbs Assistant City Editor Gus Scully likes Hot Springs, and Hot Springs apparently likes Gus Scully.

But he Hot Springs won't continue mmbbbbwh as school superintendent after his contract expires July 1. He's returning to teaching in Rapid City. "That was my decision. There was no pressure by the board or anybody else. The board, community, faculty and all that are very supportive, but we feel it's in the best interest of everybody that I just step aside," Scully said this week.

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Crystal Patterson, 9, injured in a United Downtown Welcomes THE BLACK HILLS STOCK SHOW Dec. 2S one-vehicle rollover that killed her 4-year-old brother on Interstate 90 outside Sioux Falls, was in satisfactory condition Friday at Sioux Valley Hospital. At one time she was in critical condition in the hospital pediatric intensive care unit. Gary Jordan, the 14-month-old boy burned in a New Year's Day fire that destroyed his family's Buffalo Gap mobile home, is now hospitalized at the Shriners Burn Unit in Galveston, Texas. A hospital spokesman said Gary' was in stable condition and showed signs of improvement Friday.

He was transferred to Galveston from Denver Children's Hospital earlier this month. He was flown to Colorado in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns over 85 percent of his body Meanwhile, fund raising efforts continue for both families, and benefit dances are planned. To help the Jordans, call 745-fiOGO. For the Pattersons, contact 74f-6447. 1 and Save 40 On New Client Registration Fee.

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