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NORTHERN UTAH -- Utah's reservoirs are suddenly bulging with water, and this week officials declared what's called a Level One Alert for two dams on the Utah-Wyoming border.
The unusual declaration doesn't mean the dams are unsafe, but it puts people downstream on alert for possible flooding.
About half of Utah's 27 major reservoirs are 100 percent full; the rest are fast approaching capacity.
"They are designed to absorb the spring runoff and to function under these conditions," says Lisa Iams, with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation."
What that means, in many cases, is the spillways are roaring with water that won't fit in the reservoir. At Rockport, the spillway is looking like a small-scale Niagara Falls.
A cool, wet May and suddenly warm June have lifted some reservoirs to record-breaking levels. That's the case with Meeks Cabin Reservoir and nearby Stateline Reservoir, which straddle the Utah-Wyoming line.
"It's historically higher than it's ever been. It hit that yesterday (Tuesday) and dropped back below that today (Wednesday)," says Bob Stoddard, chairman of the Bridger Valley Water Conservancy District.
As the snow started coming out of the Uintas in the last few days, the reservoir filled up higher than it's ever been before. Now that water is going out at the bottom of the dam as fast as it's coming in.
"We like this to spill a little bit, starting later in June, because it helps our irrigation. But this is a little extreme," Stoddard says.
The two state line reservoirs are on Level One Alert. It requires heightened awareness and coordination with downstream Wyoming emergency officials.
The excess spillway flows are flooding pastures and threatening some homes.
"We really don't like to see the river this high, because it causes a lot of damage downstream," Stoddard says.
Utah's last Level One Alert was in 2006. It was triggered only by high spillway flows, not by any concern about stability of the dams.
"Our facilities are routinely monitored and inspected to make sure they're safe," Iams says.
Local officials say they've stepped up monitoring just to be sure.
"We're quite confident that we're safe here, but we're not confident enough that we'd turn our back," Stoddard says.
Although one of those two reservoirs is entirely in Utah, and the other is partly in Utah, the communities downstream are all in Wyoming. They include Ft. Bridger and Mountain View.
The good news: Well into irrigation season, there's more water than anyone knows what to do with.
E-mail: jhollenhorst@ksl.com
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