Now it becomes a game of watch and wait as rivers swell with snowmelt from a sudden and rapid temperature rise.

Pull up a chair because it could be a long show, one that will extend even after rivers subside below flood stage. Elevated river flows could continue until the end of June, officials warned.

The Naches and Yakima rivers continued their upward march Friday, although river forecasters scaled back the anticipated flood peak by a foot on both waterways.

The estimated peak, while still above flood stage, means a lessened risk for damage, emergency management officials said Friday.

But a risk nonetheless. As a result, county commissioners declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon so the Army Corps of Engineers could be called in to reinforce levees if needed. The declaration also allows the county to bypass some bid rules to respond to an emergency.

Concerns remain about potential scouring and erosion of levees in the urban Yakima area as well as the area across from Union Gap, where high water could begin to erode the Interstate 82 road bed.

State transportation officials are cautiously watching U.S. Highway 12 at 16th Avenue in Yakima, where the road bed has been eroded in previous floods.

"We still have lots of potential," commented Jim Hall, director of the Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management. "We aren't taking it lightly yet. We will see what happens."

Flood stage is reached when the flow exceeds the capacity of a river's normal channel, according to the weather service.

Authorities are maintaining their advisory for people to stay away from the rivers because of erosion and channel migration. Near-record temperatures in the 90s through today will make the rivers a magnet for those seeking relief from the heat. But water temperatures are very cold and can put lives in danger very quickly.

Pamela Brown, coordinator for the Community Emergency Response Team in the Cliffdell area, northwest of Naches, said she doesn't expect the high water will cause major problems, certainly not like 1996 when washed-out roads marooned the community for several days.

"It's running dark and hard and there is debris in the river," she said.

Even should the Naches hit its new projected peak of just under 32 feet, she is optimistic the community will avoid significant flooding.

Flood stage at Cliffdell is 31 feet. Brown said late Friday she had not noticed any further rise in the Naches River at Cliffdell during the day.

The National Weather Service said the Naches River is likely to remain above flood stage until next Friday, the eve of the Memorial Day weekend.

"It will be a week of higher water and a long, drawn-out period," weather service hydrologist Marilyn Lohmann told emergency officials in a telephone conference call at the county courthouse.

The Naches River at Naches is forecast to crest todayat 19 feet, two feet above flood stage.

The Yakima River at Parker, now forecast to peak briefly just at flood stage, will recede faster.

Lohmann said the lower estimate is a result of an analysis of river flow trends, rates of snowmelt, temperature and other factors.

Matt Pietrusiewicz, Yakima County road maintenance manager, said no roads were in danger of being flooded at midafternoon. Some limited standing water occurred on both Lewis and Craig roads, south of Naches.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation is storing as much of the melting high-elevation snow as possible to lessen downstream damage, said Chuck Garner, river operations supervisor for the agency that manages the reservoir system and the Yakima Irrigation Project.

"Everything that goes in is going to stay in," Garner said.

Any reservoir releases that have to be made will wait until after the flood crest has passed, he said.

* David Lester can be reached at 577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.