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Anticipating further storm damage to an already flooded wash, including a potentially devastating breach of a 30-inch sewer line, the mayor of Nogales, Ariz., has declared a state of emergency.

The Nogales Wash, which runs north from Nogales, Sonora, toward the Santa Cruz River, contains the International Outfall Interceptor, a 30-inch line that carries about 14 million gallons of raw sewage per day.

"If a breach of the IOI occurs and rain, as currently predicted to fall, increases the flow in the Nogales Wash and its tributaries, the lives, health, safety and welfare of the residents of Nogales, Arizona, and surrounding region are at risk because there is no alternative available to remediate the pollution of the raw sewage except treatment with chlorine," said the proclamation from Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel. "A breach of the IOI has the catastrophic potential to pollute the Santa Cruz River Basin from Nogales to Tucson to Pinal County."

On Sunday, monsoon rainfall surged through the wash, and the flood-control system near Morley Avenue and Bankard Street lost several concrete floor panels. Continued loss of concrete floor panels or wall panels could destroy the sewer line. Flood damage could also destabilize the Union Pacific railroad tracks, according to the proclamation.

Deputy City Manager John Kissinger said city crews have been working on temporary repairs but the measures aren't likely to be enough to protect against further damage.

"We can anticipate there will be multiple failures through the monsoon season, which will exhaust the city's resources," he said.

Early estimates put the damage at more than $500,000, an amount that Kissinger expects to rise.

With the proclamation, the city is asking for state and federal assistance to prevent a catastrophic breach of the sewer line or any other significant flood-related damage.

Heavy floodwaters last August tore up a 150-foot section of concrete wash about 1 1/2 miles north of the border. This storm's damage is about 50 yards north of last year's damage, Kissinger said.