Little Bear Fire: Alamogordo declares emergency at lake

Alamogordo has once again stopped pumping water from Bonito Lake after concerns that it has become unusable because of runoff from the charred watershed surrounding the lake. The Alamogordo City Commission declared an emergency at Bonito Lake on Tuesday night because of damage caused by the Little Bear fire burning in the area, a necessary step in receiving federal assistance to repair the lake. He said portions of the watershed surrounding Bonito Lake suffered heavy damage as a result of the Little Bear fire. "It's basically bare earth and sticks where the pines used to be," Cesar said. The lake supplies Alamogordo with about 15 percent of its water, Cesar said. City documents show that a thunderstorm dropped as much as a half-inch of rain in less than 30 minutes over the Kraut and Littleton canyon burn scar areas. Lincoln County Incident Command surveyed the area and found that a large amount of debris had entered the lake area...more

HT: NNM