Salt River Project has begun releasing excess water from its two reservoirs on the Verde River, just north of Fort McDowell and the Verde Communities, to create additional storage capacity and provide maximum flexibility for snowmelt and the likelihood of future runoff events this spring.

As a result of the water release the normally dry Salt River bed is flowing through the Valley. The flow has resulted in restrictions to traffic on Gilbert Road south of the Beeline Highway. Northbound lanes have been closed due to flooding and traffic has been diverted to both directions over the bridge for the southbound lanes.

The water flow has closed McKellips Road in Mesa between Alma School Road and the Loop 202 freeway.

There is additional information from Salt River Project on the snowpack in the mountains and expected runoff in this week’s edition of The Times.