SALT LAKE CITY — While it's never safe to completely let one's guard down, it appears the majority of Utah's flooding concerns following this winter's record-breaking snowfall are now a thing of the past.
In the latest outlook report from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, officials say most of the snowpack in Utah's mountains has melted out, with the remainder melting quickly.
According to the report, as of June 1 there was an average of 3.1 inches of snow water equivalent (SWE), the data which determines how much water the snowpack contains, remaining in the mountains. Comparatively, there was 0.8 inches left at the same time in 2022.
With nearly a half-inch of SWE being lost each day, the entire snowpack is expected to be melted out by the end of June.
Utah set the state's record for largest ever snowpack in March with 26.1 inches of SWE, raising concerns for massive flooding issues as warmer temperatures arrived and melted the snow. Many looked upon the 1983 floods that inundated downtown Salt Lake City streets with water as an example of the possibilities that existed.
“It was amazing potential to cause issues as far as flooding through spring runoff,” said Salt Lake County Flood Control Division Director Kade Moncur.
However, the flooding was not as widespread as feared, and other than a few areas, including along the Bear River in rural northeast Utah that saw damaged ranch land and cattle deaths, Utah appeared to escape major damage.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service noted the 1983 flooding in its report, saying that while this year's snowmelt was similar to four decades ago, improved infrastructure and planning led to low flooding impact in 2023.
Moncur said Salt Lake County teams began prepping for the potential overflow in February.
“We got on top of getting snow bags, sand. And then leaned really far forward to getting emergency contractors in place to help clear debris once the snow had melted,” said Moncur.
Across the state, leaders started earlier and with more teams communicating than 30 years prior.
“We created huge holes in these reservoirs probably from March 15th to April 15th to be able to catch all of this water that we knew was going to come down,” explained Darren Hess, the Assistant General Manager at Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.
Hess said forecasters and new systems helped teams make decisions on how much water to release from reservoirs to keep the Weber and Ogden rivers from overflowing.
“I mean, the amount of snowtell sites that we've added to the system over the last 20 years is huge,” he said, “And so the better data, we have the better decisions we can make.”
Although last month's precipitation was 71% of normal, marking the second straight month below normal conditions, the amount from earlier months has Utah's put major watersheds at 120% of normal precipitation for the current water year.
The report referenced how the Great Salt Lake hit 4193.8 feet on June 1, the highest its been since 2019 and a rise of five feet since hitting its record low last year. Utah's reservoirs are currently at 76% of capacity, which is up 19% from last month and 16% from last June.
"We expect that most of Utah’s reservoirs will fill this summer except for Bear Lake, Strawberry Reservoir, and Sevier Bridge Reservoir," the report said.
Moncur said although many rivers and creeks have already reached their peak water levels, high water is still rushing quickly. He advised families keep pets and small children away from the waterways.
