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AMERICAN FORK — Utah's record snowpack is poised to continue to melt in the coming weeks and months; however, the state is turning to a tool it didn't have before as leaders look to avoid a repeat of the severe flooding impacts that took place in 1983.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced Wednesday that the state is partnering with American Fork-based LiveView Technologies, which will install surveillance cameras along more than a dozen of the state's creeks, streams and rivers in the coming days. It will allow Utah's water managers, meteorologists, community leaders and even residents to better monitor streamflows and know when flooding is beginning to happen.
Once flooding begins, communities and state agencies can deploy emergency responders as needed.
"This is going to allow us to be ahead of the game," Cox said. "This is going to help our Department of Public Safety, it's going to help (the Utah Department of Transportation) — we'll be able to watch bridges and see if we're having problems there."
LiveView Technologies has already set up a half-dozen cameras across the state. They give a view of Ashley Creek in Vernal, Chalk Creek in Fillmore, Pine Creek in Meadow, Provo River in Kamas, Salina Creek in Salina and Weber River in Ogden. About 20 cameras are expected to be installed this year.
The cameras, which run on solar power, provide an updated image every five minutes. They can be viewed at floods.utah.gov or lvt.com/flooding. The company has already worked with Utah in the past, providing cameras that help UDOT officials know the road conditions all over the state. They're also a popular tool for law enforcement officers.
There's a reason Utah leaders are turning to the cameras for flooding help, though.
While there have been some flooding impacts already, both state leaders and leaders of communities along the Wasatch Front are still nervously awaiting this year's snowmelt. Utah's snowpack reached a record 30 inches statewide this year; however, only 3.5 inches have melted since April 8, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service data updated Wednesday afternoon.
While more than half of southwestern Utah's snowpack has melted since early April, more than 90% of the snowpack is still in northern Utah's mountains, ready to melt. The 37.4 inches still in the Provo-Utah Lake-Jordan snowpack is 3 inches higher than the region's previous record that was set in 2011.
"I never thought I'd say there's too much water living through the worst drought in 1,200 years, which is where we are, but right now we have too much water up in those mountains," Cox said. "We're between 200-300% of normal throughout much of Utah and we need to get all of that (water) down and into our reservoirs."
Another warmup across the state is on the way, too. High temperatures returned to the mid-60s Wednesday; however, temperatures are forecast to reach the 70s and 80s along the Wasatch Front and even reach the 90s in St. George over the next seven days, as a high-pressure system builds up over the state again.
That's why Utah leaders are using every option they can to prepare for potential flooding.
Cox declared a state of emergency last week over natural disasters tied to the spring runoff, such as flooding, avalanches and landslides. The measure helps state and local communities receive federal funding for any damage.
Wednesday's announcement came a day after Central Utah Water Conservancy District began a controlled release of about 50 million gallons of water per day from a flood control site near the Point of the Mountain. The release aims to lessen flooding impacts in the region but will send additional water to the Jordan River, which dumps out into the Great Salt Lake.
UDOT officials also planned to close uphill traffic into American Fork Canyon on Wednesday night while crews remove debris from the American Fork River, so that there isn't any buildup that leads to flooding. Several communities have conducted similar work in other rivers and streams across the region.
Communities across Utah have dispersed more than 1 million sandbags over the past few weeks, as well.
Contributing: Mike Anderson
