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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah geologists say the state's record snowpack and soil moisture levels have led to several more landslides over the past few weeks; however, they may never know exactly how many the wet conditions have produced this year.
Bill Keach, director of the Utah Geological Survey, told members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday that the agency is now aware of landslides in at least 209 different locations this year. That's over 100 more since the agency's last report to the Utah Legislature almost a month ago.
Most of the landslides have occurred along the Wasatch Front and in southwest Utah, including multiple slides at Zion National Park; City, Emigration and Parleys canyons in Salt Lake County; Layton in Davis County; Mountain Green and Trappers Loop Road in Morgan County; and North Cisco Road in Rich County.
"(There are) probably many, many more," he said. "I don't have any slides in the middle of the state and I'm wondering why. It's just maybe we don't hear about them."
The agency has posted several landslide reports online, but many have not been posted because they happened on private land and landowners expressed privacy concerns, Keach explained to the subcommittee. He added that there have been more than 25 emergency responses and the agency has logged about 500 staff hours in response to these slides.
The worst event remains a slide that completely destroyed two homes in Draper back in April; a third home was razed by the city shortly after. The two homes that fell were built on top of engineered soil that filled in a part of the ravine in the area and had been condemned by the city months before the collapse because of concerns over the soil.
Keach said Tuesday that he's also aware of a few cabins that have been impacted by slides, as well as incidents where slides have ended up close to homes. The exact cost of these slides is unknown.
Utah's soil moisture reached a record 83.4% saturation on May 18 and remained at record levels up until May 28, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service data. Utah officials warned at the time that this could result in more landslides and mudslides.
The federal agency reports that Utah soils are now back down to about 73%, which is slightly below the record for this point in the year and roughly 12 percentage points above the median.
Keach played a video of a minor slide in Pleasant View to show exactly what many of these slides look it. The video shows small rocks tumbling to the ground amid a mudflow in the area last month.
"This is what our people are experiencing," he said. "It's not the big, giant landslides, it's the ones that creep into their yards; it's the ones where their homes slowly slip away."
Utah Geological Survey officials came to the meeting to discuss how they can better prepare for landslides and other geological events. Keach said that the state agency had requested $120,000 to help enhance geological hazard mapping during this year's legislative session but the agency never received that money despite support from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the appropriations subcommittee.
It's a request the agency had "been asking for this for several years" because it could help landowners be better prepared for risks that may exist on their land, Keach said.
"Our current hazard mapping is a little inconsistent," he said, explaining the major focus is to improve mapping for landslides and other geological events across major metropolitan areas in the state, as well as urban-wildland interfaces, areas of rapid development, areas that are frequently used for recreation and anywhere else that may have "significant hazards."
He's hopeful that the funding can be made available in the near future now. These reports, he contends, would benefit land-use managers and pre-construction engineers who can then make more resilient structures, which would help anyone living or working in the state.
Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, one of the members of the subcommittee, asked if these reports could eventually make it difficult for current landowners to sell their property. Keach said he doesn't believe that would happen, especially if people want to live in a certain place that could have extra geological risks.
Others in the meeting seemed to agree. Rep. Tim Jimenez, R-Tooele, said he believes extra mapping could help developers avoid mistakes and better mitigate landslide risks in the future.
"I think we're going to have development in these areas, regardless," he said. "But having more information just means — yeah, the cost will be a little bit higher — but what we'll end up with is a more secure and stout infrastructure, strong houses (and) better building."
