The Pima County Office of Emergency Management has made it possible through a system called MyAlerts for the Regional Flood Control District to provide near-real-time flood alerts to Pima County residents within certain watersheds. This page provides information about MyAlerts and information specific to the covered watersheds.

The Pima County Office of Emergency Management has made it possible through a system called MyAlerts for the Regional Flood Control District to provide near-real-time flood alerts to Pima County residents within certain watersheds. This page provides information about MyAlerts and information specific to the covered watersheds. The District's use of MyAlerts is largely limited to specific watercourses where we have a stream gage and sufficient floodplain modeling to determine the likely area of impact downstream of the stream gage. Currently, the District is working towards flood messaging on the watercourses listed below. Clicking on the link for a specific watercourse will take you to a page with detailed information about the messages one can expect to receive, steps to take when you receive a specific message, and flood safety information specific to that area. Outreach letters (PDF) were sent to impacted properties in 2019 to encourage property owners to sign up for MyAlerts. Up-to-Date Emergency Information: For up-to-date emergency information, check the Twitter feeds: Pima County Office of Emergency Management Twitter and Pima County Sheriff's Twitter. Emergency Response Plan: Develop your own emergency response plan (PDF) to protect yourself and loved ones before a disaster strikes. Sign Up for MyAlerts: In order to receive Flood Alerts through MyAlerts requires signing up and providing a location within the inundation area of the watercourse you want alerts for. It can be a home address, work address, school address, etc. Go to the MyAlerts login page now to create an account and start receiving important safety alerts. MyAlerts Information for Covered Watercourses: Agua Caliente Wash, Canada del Oro Wash, Franco Wash, Pima Wash, Sabino Creek, Santa Cruz River (upper), Tanque Verde Creek (lower), Tanque Verde Creek (middle), Tanque Verde Creek (upper), Ventana Canyon Wash MyAlerts Glossary: ALERT - Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time. This refers to the network of rainfall, weather, and streamflow gages that are installed throughout Pima County and surrounding areas by the Flood Control District to monitor and evaluate storm and flood events. They form the basis of the alerts provided through MyAlerts. Base flood - the base flood is what is often called the 100-year flood. It is a flood that has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. Floods of greater magnitude do occur, and floods of lesser magnitude can still cause major flooding and damage. CFS - cubic feet per second. This is a standard unit of measure for flow rates of floods. A cubic foot of water is 7.5 gallons, which weighs 62.5 pounds. 100 cfs is equal to a heavy-duty crew cab pickup truck passing by every second. 3,500 cfs is equal to a freight train locomotive passing by every second. 15,000 cfs is equal to a fully loaded 747-passenger jet passing by every second. Inundation area - this is the area expected to be flooded by flows of a particular magnitude (cfs) based on computer modeling. Many factors affect the actual inundation area during actual flood events. The actual extents of a flood may vary from those shown on the map. Disclaimer: Weather is unpredictable, so floods are too. The alerts provided err on the side of caution. It is possible that you may receive a warning and the events described do not occur. This is, in part, because floods in Pima County can develop so quickly that we have to anticipate possible events early in order to give the public reasonable time to react to the potential threat. In addition, there are many unpredictable factors that affect the extent of flooding. Flood damage may be lower or higher than what we expect. The District strives to provide the best possible information based upon the best available data and is not liable for errors. No message can guarantee your safety. We will occasionally be wrong, but that does not mean that the safety messages should be ignored. It is your responsibility to use sound judgment in and around flood waters. Due to the fast-changing pace of flood conditions, the flood discharge at which flood alerts are sent may vary from those indicated in the individual watercourse pages based on real-time evaluation by District staff. In addition, flood alerts may be sent to a larger inundation area than the current discharge predicts in order to provide additional warning time to residents.