WEBER COUNTY, Utah — There’s so much water running off from the melted snowpack, watershed managers have had to hold back from releasing water from the reservoirs.
“There’s an element of it that we will never be able to control and that’s OK,” said Weber County emergency manager Lisa Gosline. “But for that that we can, we will.”
It’s been an around-the-clock effort for Weber County water engineers as they open and close the gates at reservoirs and dams to try and handle river levels.
At the Slaterville Diversion Dam, 700 million gallons a day go to Willard Bay and another 2.5 billion gallons make their way to the Great Salt Lake.
The dam is managed by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. The district also oversees the water released from the seven reservoirs connected to the Weber and Ogden rivers.
“Pineview [Reservoir] for instance, it’s about two-and-a-half times the volume of Pineview Reservoir up in the snowpack,” said general manager and CEO Scott Paxman.
Paxman said that currently only one-third of river water is released from reservoirs. The other two-thirds is from melted snowpack in the mountains.
The runoff makes the river an impressive, but dangerous force.
“We just heard about a young lady that fell in the water while walking her dogs,” said Steven Fuentes, a resident checking out the river. “Felt kind of sad so we came over here to throw a prayer.”
Weber County emergency managers are on the phone with the water district about five to six times a day. They monitor the river with the help of the sheriff’s office, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“When you add all these entities together it’s been a phenomenal coordination to make sure we can manage,” said Gosline. “That’s the best we can do is manage the flow as best as we can.”
High flows are expected for at least another month and a half. Paxman said that current water levels are from lower and mid-elevation runoff.
“We are just starting the snowmelt process. There’s probably still 80% of the snowpack that needs to melt still that’s still up there,” he said.
Despite all the water coming down from the mountains, engineers are still stressing conservation. The recent sunshine and high temperatures make it very tempting to start up sprinklers, but the state is advising not to do it just yet.
The weekly lawn watering guide shows only seven counties in southern Utah should have one irrigation per week. To check out that map, click here.
