SANDOVAL COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) –People near Jemez Springs are scrambling to protect their homes, as the continuing snowmelt brings dangerous flooding to the region.  Officials say the water will continue to rise throughout the weekend. San Ysidro residents say they are fighting to protect their homes. “So this morning, when I woke up this field, was completely dry and by like eleven o’clock it was full,” said Gabriel Griego, San Ysidro resident.  

Gabriel Griego says the water has been rising faster than he expected. Wednesday he could still walk through his driveway, but now he can only go through using his excavator. Griego says the state brought him millings to help protect his home from the rising water, but he’s going through it quickly. He says he just built his home and is afraid to see it destroyed. 

“I’m really worried, I mean I’m just barely building my new house right now and it’s uh, yeah I’m getting worried,” said Griego. 

The National Weather Service says the Jemez Mountains got some of the deepest snowpacks in decades and so they have been seeing the highest runoff. County officials say most of the flooding in San Ysidro that’s impacting Highway 4 is because of a breached levy. They say they’re also monitoring potential rain. 

“If we get a rain event on top of this melt event, we’re gonna get a lot more water coming down a lot faster. In which case some of these bridges may overtop, some of them may fail,” says Wayne Johnson, Sandoval County Manager. 

Leonard Pino says his home belonged to his grandfather and was in the process of making renovations. “This is the first I’ve ever seen the river overflow this much. it’s kind of a shock because I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Leonard Pino, San Ysidro resident. 

Despite the flooding, residents I spoke to say right now, they don’t plan on abandoning their homes. “We just didn’t want to have the house flooded and all our belongings inside just get washed away,” said Pino. 

“It’s scary but I’m not going nowhere. I’ll dig up my whole yard if I have to,” says Griego. 

Officials say Highway 4 is currently open and being monitored. Sandbags are also available for residents at their local fire stations.