No more flooding expected in Morgan County, Emergency Manager says

After several tense weeks, Morgan County Emergency Manager Austin Turner finally had some good news for the county commission: major flooding in Morgan County appears to have been averted.

“Thanks to our cooler temperatures we’ve enjoyed for the last month and a little bit the snow has melted gradually, and the high water in a lot of our local streams like Hard Scrabble, Deep Creek and a lot of those has started to come down,” he told commissioners June 6.

Turner gave a report on the status of area reservoirs: East Canyon Reservoir is at 96 percent full; it has 2.9 feet to go before it reaches the spillways. Since Turner last reported to the commission on May 16 it gained .4 feet. Despite the gain, the reservoir is not anticipated to flood, he said.

“The waters coming in up above are under what the stream capacity is below so even if it does overtop we will still be in good shape,” Commissioner Jared Anderson commented. 

With the other reservoirs, Echo has 8.2 feet to go before the spillways; it gained 1.2 feet. Rockport has 22.6 feet to go; it gained 2.3 feet, Turner said.

“Jordanelle is 97 percent full so all that water they were taking across the Kamas canal they are no longer taking,” Turner said. “It went from 800 cubic feet per second down to this morning, when it was 141 cubic feet per second.

Turner said he anticipated a significant gain in Rockport and Echo over the coming week but that those waters could be contained. “When the reservoirs spill at this point all the waterways can handle it easily,” he said. “So, we’re going to be shifting gears from a response to a recovery mode.”

The state Division of Emergency Management is gathering data to determine if there is enough documentation to get a federal declaration of emergency, Turner said. If that funding is approved, he hopes to receive some additional state mitigation money to improve the capacity of culverts that failed during recent flooding.

“We still have a few issues that we’re trying to get some numbers on,” he said, reporting that the road at Lost Creek Reservoir, a county road, has washed out. “Hopefully we can get some FEMA money to have them help us with that.”

Turner expressed appreciation for all the help that he and his crews had received. “There’s been a lot of people respond out and a lot of people willing to help in a lot of different areas in this community,” he said. “There was a lot of organizations, a lot of volunteer hours have been spent on the county’s behalf and the public’s behalf.”

He also expressed appreciation for Weber Basin Water Conservation District officials who, he said, had kept in regular contact with him. “The last time we had significant flooding in Morgan in 2011 there wasn’t that working relationship that we have now,” he said.

While there is still a lot of snow in the mountains, “it’s going to take some time for it to come out especially at these temperatures,” Turner said. “The chance of us having any flooding issues is greatly minimal or lesser now than they have been.”

Remaining snow melts it should do so gradually, Turner said. “There will be plenty enough to fill the reservoirs to the point where it comes over the spillway in a very easy manner that we don’t have to worry about at this point.”

To ensure that there are no unforeseen effects from this season’s snowpack Turner asked the county commission to extend the state of emergency which expires June 21, into August. The commission is expected to do so at its next meeting. λ