MURRAY, Utah — Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has ended the county's state of emergency for flooding after four months.
At a news conference overlooking a debris basin at Wheeler Farm on Monday, the mayor thanked residents who volunteered to fill over 500,000 sandbags and help prevent what could have been a catastrophe.
"We’re best in this community when neighbors help neighbors," she said. "The COVID emergency? We saw division. This flood emergency? We saw unity."
Utah experienced a record-breaking winter with snow totals 200% of normal. That prompted flooding fears across the state. Mayor Wilson declared a state of emergency to free up resources. Crews worked around the clock to clear water ways of debris to help prevent disaster.
"Our work protected homes, businesses, and resulted in very minimal damage. I’m very happy to know we had no loss of human life," the mayor said.
What also helped was a cooler than usual spring which kept the snowmelt even and significant infrastructure improvements statewide as a result of the 1983 floods that created a river down State Street in Salt Lake City and caused catastrophic damage totaling over $1 billion. Thanks to those infrastructure improvements, Mayor Wilson said 2023 damages were around $4 million.
"What a dramatic difference. We learned from 1983 that we needed to build some infrastructure," Mayor Wilson said.
Overall, Utah emerged from the floods in pretty good conditions.
"There are still a few reservoirs out there spilling. That being said, we’ve seen pretty much the tail end of runoff for parts of our state," Candice Hasenyager, the director of Utah's Division of Water Resources, told FOX 13 News on Monday.
She said over half of Utah's streams are still running at above-average conditions where, at this same time last year, only 2% were above-average conditions. Those conditions prompted Salt Lake County's flood control director Kade Moncur to issue a warning: "Going into July and August, there will still be a lot of water in the creeks so just be aware to keep small children and pets in close eye and keep them away."
As a result of the surge in temperatures, the Great Salt Lake and reservoirs have begun declining again. Hasenyager said it is important to remember water conservation remains critical.
"We really don’t know what’s going to happen next year," she said. "We’re all grateful for this year. It took a lot of pressure off our water situation, but we really need to save it for what may come in the future."
