DRAPER, Utah — The Utah Geological Survey is keeping a close eye on shallow groundwater flooding as the state heads into the warmer months, working on mapping possible hazard areas.
Back in January, groundwater flooded one Draper resident's basement and left plenty of damage behind. Devin has lived at the home for six years and showed how the walls are currently torn out after water wicked up into the sheet rock.
"We've got a 2,000 foot basement, so 2,000 square feet of carpet has been torn out," he explained.
Four months later, he is still dealing with the effects.
"We're estimating the cost is going to cost us anywhere from $20,000-plus," Devin said.
The UGS is now working on mapping shallow groundwater hazards across the state to determine the likelihood of flooding.
"This time of year is busy, especially now with the snowpack that we've received all of this water, that's coming down, going into the surface is creating problems with shallow groundwater for people," said senior geologist Jessica Castleton.
Using a form on the Utah Geological Survey website, geologists are compiling a public database that will be used in taking steps to safeguard properties during wet periods. So far, they've received nearly two dozen reports from residents about groundwater flooding in the one week since it was activated.
Those reports have come from places like Provo, Ogden, Draper and even areas, they don't typically see groundwater flooding take place.
"Our goal is to get out ahead of development and provide people a resource that they can go to to determine where they would like to build a house, they can see what geologic hazards might be present," Castleton explained. "We can use the mapping in terms of emergency response, look at landslides that are occurring, see if more landsliding is expected in these areas."
While the mapping can't necessarily prevent the flooding from happening, the Utah Geological Survey is hopeful they can give residents some options to help mitigate the issue so they don't have a problem in the future.
While Devin waits to fix his basement until the spring runoff is over, he said he's appreciative of the work to address the groundwater issue.
"It makes me hope that we'll be able to get some type of public works project in place to be able to mitigate it so that the homes, the people who live here, which there are a lot of homes in this area, can no longer be impacted by situations like this in the future."
