Local leaders prep for possible flooding, identify vulnerable areas
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A debris basin at Memory Grove Park in Salt Lake City. Photo: Kim Bojórquez/Axios
As warmer weather arrives, snowpack melts. So, Salt Lake City leaders are asking residents to prepare for potential flooding in their neighborhoods.
Details: Laura Briefer, director of public utilities for the city, told Axios residents who live within an established floodplain or near streams like City Creek, Emigration Creek, Red Butte Creek and Parleys Creek may be vulnerable to spring runoff.
- "At this point, those are the areas that would be the highest concern. That's not to say that they will flood. It's just important to take extra precautions around those areas," Briefer said.
- If you get sandbags, Jesse Stewart, deputy director of public utilities for Salt Lake City, says put them near windows and doors.
- "You don't need to create a moat around your homes," Richard Boden, division chief and emergency manager with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, added to reporters.
By the numbers: Briefer said snowpack from the Jordan River Watershed, which includes Utah Lake and Provo River, sits at 229% above normal.
Zoom in: Briefer said the city is conducting outreach to people experiencing homelessness who stay in encampments near the Jordan River to let them know there will likely be high water in the area.
What they're saying: "There's simply no way to predict really what the temperatures will be and what kind of additional weather will be in store for us in this epic year," Mayor Erin Mendenhall said Monday during a news conference.
- "But we are absolutely, undoubtedly much better prepared today for the record snowfall that we've received than we were in 1983," she added, referring to the flooding in Salt Lake City 40 years ago.
Flashback: After that, Stewart said the city built debris basins to collect sediment from spring runoff and avoid clogs in the drainage system.
- Mendenhall also noted that due to drought conditions, the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake each have the capacity to collect runoff.
Be smart: The city's Department of Public Utilities is asking volunteers to participate in its Adopt a Storm Drain program to maintain the infrastructure and clear debris and trash.
- Residents can also view the estimated flood risk of their properties on this county map.
What to watch: "It's all going to come back to how fast things warm up," Stewart said. "I think people need to expect high, fast, cold water coming through the creeks in the city."
