Residents of Cache Creek who have been on flood watch got a brief reprieve Wednesday as water levels on the Bonaparte River dropped slightly.
But more rain may be on the way.
All evacuation orders and alerts will remain in place.
The flooding has swept away a bridge to the Desert Hills Ranch just outside of the village of Cache Creek.
Desert Hills ranch resident Laurence Guichon says the Bonaparte River is also carving out new channels across the entire farm.
“We don’t know what’s going to wash out next,” he said. “It’ll go through the ground and there may be hard ground and then it’ll hit a soft spot of gravel bed and it’ll just cut that direction.”
Guichon also blames the 2017 Elephant Hill wildfire, saying whenever it rains there’s nothing to hold water back and it flows straight into the Bonaparte River.
Cache Creek officials say the rain may return on Thursday. The evacuation orders affecting 12 properties and evacuation alerts affecting another 160 will remain in place until at least the end of the week.
As the residents of Cache Creek and outlying areas hold their collective breath over the next couple of days, there are still long-term issues that need to be addressed.
People who live along the Bonaparte River say the flow of the river is changing, and they’re tired of living under the constant threat of floods.
“I mean, we’re going to get this every year,” Guichon said. “I don’t know how you can retain it in the river, although I guess you’d have to build six-foot dykes all through the property.”
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