Flood warning: 'Mother Nature threw us a knuckleball,' manager says


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SALT LAKE CITY — Hot weather into mid-March already delivered some snowmelt to Utah's river and streams, but the largest quantities of water have yet to make their way out of the mountains and into reservoirs.

With that in mind, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a warning Monday that people should be vigilant with young children and pets around Utah waterways and residents should be on alert to flooding potential in their neighborhoods.

"Either we have far less water than we need or far more water than we need. It is years like this that allow us to store water. … In 2017, Mother Nature threw us a knuckleball," said Wayne Pullan, manager of the Provo Area Office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The federal agency, in conjunction with local and state partners, is closely monitoring the flows into the network of 10 reservoirs that in turn send releases of water downstream into communities scattered from Cache to Utah counties.

Managers of water users associations and water conservancy districts, Pullan said, have already been releasing water from dams to make room for the coming snowmelt.

"We will have to dump whatever we cannot store," he said.

In the Weber and Ogden rivers basin, for example, Pullan said managers there have walked a "tight tightrope" of releasing enough water to make room for more snowmelt, but have stopped just shy of releasing amounts that would lead to flooding.

A particular concern remains the Ogden River, especially as it winds its way down a narrow canyon below Pineview Dam that is home to homes and businesses, Pullan said.

"In February they just kissed the flood stage," of the river with releases, Pullan said. "The good news is we created enough space."

Pineview, for example, is 49 percent full, and Jordanelle is hovering around 64 percent, according to the bureau.

Pullan said water managers expect reservoirs to fill and some dams — like East Canyon and Upper Stillwater — will spill.

"We have not seen that in several years," he said.

Pullan stressed that the region's 30 major and 19 minor bureau dams in Utah, southwestern Wyoming and small portions of Idaho and Nevada undergo routine inspections and maintenance to ensure structural integrity.

Over the last 30 years, the bureau has carried out 12 retrofits on 10 dams.

"Operating old infrastructure is kind like driving an old car. When you drive an old car, you have to be hyper vigilant," he said.

Explaining how engineering and technology has advanced in the decades since many of the dams were built, Pullan said that much like vehicles have changed with improved safety features, dams are being upgraded.

"Not only have we put in the seat belts, we put in airbags," he said.

Snowpack even this late into March is well above average at most locations throughout the state, including the Bear River drainage at 149 percent of average, Weber-Ogden at 128 percent of average, and Provo-Jordan at 123 percent of average.

Pullan said it's impossible to predict how, when and what rate that snowpack will come off and the weather patterns continue to keep people guessing.

"There is nothing in this year that has been average," he said.

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