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GARDEN CITY, Rich County — Officials in northern Utah are keeping an eye on water flow behind two dams as rain and warm temperatures melt a deep snowpack, causing flooding in many areas.
And residents in one Cache County city were told Friday to not flush toilets or take showers as the sewer system is at capacity and may cause backups in the homes.
The Box Elder County Emergency Management agency issued an alert Friday about Cutler Dam, saying all water entering the reservoir will be passed through into the Bear River.
"We are at the flood stage now, and the volume will increase significantly over the next 48 hours," the alert said. "Farmers or ranchers who have livestock or equipment in the Bear River bottoms need to get those out very soon. Residents down near the waterways in the Bear Hollow and Corinne areas will need be watchful of water levels."
Hyrum Dam
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Friday that sending water from Hyrum Dam down the Little Bear River toward the Cache County town of Wellsville is not expected to cause property damage or endanger people.
Local reclamation chief Wayne Pullan says the "level one" emergency is the lowest on a three-step scale.
He calls it a precaution that opens communication lines with county and local agencies.
The water release comes amid warm weather, rapid snowmelt and rain in the area.
It isn't expected to cause flooding, but Pullan says the region is already saturated.
The dam stands some 116 feet high and was completed in 1935.
Editor's note: This story corrects to say the water will be sent down to Wellsville, not Paradise and Avon.
Box Elder County
Box Elder County officials have closed West Forest Street two miles west of I-15 in Brigham City due to flooding, according to a Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Facebook post.
"There is no access to Refuge Auto Tour," the Facebook post stated. "We will still host Eagle Day tomorrow @ the Wildlife Education Center from 11-3."
Garden City canal breach
Efforts to battle flooding began early in Garden City as residents and volunteers filled sandbags after a police officer discovered that a 10- to 15-foot section of a canal had breached, sending water into the Harbor Village subdivision about 4:45 a.m. At least three homes suffered damage and at least a dozen more were threatened, according to Garden City Fire Chief Mike Wahlberg.
Garden City, which sits next to Bear Lake, posted on its Facebook page that employees from the Public Works Department would be filling sandbags and asked volunteers to bring shovels, sand and sandbags to help.
The city was originally charging residents 30 cents per sandbag but later announced the bags would be free.
Cache County
Also Friday, other parts of Cache County will continue battling flooding that has affected communities for several days.
In Wellsville, a section of a road was reportedly washed away near 2400 West and 1800 North.
Residents in a subdivision near 880 East 675 North in Wellsville were pumping water out of their basements late Thursday night. But many say the challenge is the ground in the area is already saturated.
"I think there’s about 2 to 3 inches of water depending on where you are in the basement," said Kason Suchow, whose basement flooded. "There was a lot of stuff in cardboard boxes on the ground. Most of that has taken a lot of water damage and most of that has probably been ruined. I’m worried about the fact that it’s an unfinished basement, all the wood getting water damage and having their be issues with the studs."
Suchow said he had a pump and shopvacs in his basement. But he expects with this year's heavy snowpack, his basement will continue to see more water. Still, he said he's taking it in stride.
"It’s life. It’s what happens when you get a ton of weather. It’s given us reason to kind of sort through all this junk and throw away anything that is damaged or old or hasn’t seen use in years. Pick up and move on. I mean, it sucks. But it happened and we gotta see what we need to do to get it fixed and cleaned up and move on from there.”
The Cache County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that sandbags are available at the county jail.
Nibley officials posted information on sandbagging stations on their website and tips on what to do if runoff fills a resident's window wells.
Contributing: Brian Champagne, Associated Press
