ST. GEORGE — Washington County residents were watching gathering storm clouds Wednesday as the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for a portion of the Santa Clara River near the small town of Gunlock.

"A flood watch is basically a wake-up call for us," said Dean Cox, Washington County's emergency services coordinator. "There's nothing we can really do but watch and see what happens and make sure our equipment is ready to go when the water subsides."

Heavy basin-wide rainfall in January, coupled with saturated soils and a low snowpack, led to massive flooding along the Santa Clara River. Dozens of homes were either sucked into the raging waters or structurally damaged beyond repair.

By contrast the Virgin River also rose higher during the same time period but caused little damage to private or public property along its path. County officials are voicing worries this time around that the Virgin River is the one to watch when spring runoff begins in earnest.

"We've got a lot off folks who are getting a little bit nervous about that," said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner. "Some of the folks along the river are pretty anxious."

Clearing debris and silt out of the Virgin River is a top priority for the county, but there's no more money to do the work, he added. An emergency funding request for another $66 million to do the work is being shepherded through congress by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

Wednesday's flood watch, which means that flooding is possible but not imminent, could wind up affecting residents of Gunlock the most, Cox said. The roadways and bridges leading to that rural community have been washed out and replaced with temporary culvert crossings several times since the January floods.

"Those are temporary crossings. They're not very storm resistant," said Cox. "We'll have to see if this storm takes those culverts out again. If they do, we'll be right there with equipment to fix them as soon as the water subsides."

County commissioners awarded two contracts to the Utah Department of Transportation on Tuesday to design and replace three bridges in the Gunlock area. But those permanent structures won't be completed in time for spring runoff, said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner.

"It'll be fall before they're done," he said. "We'll just have to play this by ear and see what happens over the weekend."

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