From Deseret News archives:
Washington County anxiously awaits flood funds
Officials hoping to finish work on rivers before snow melts
"We still have a great potential for flooding with such a high snowpack in the mountains," said Washington County Commissioner Jim Eardley, during a meeting held in St. George on Monday with state officials at the request of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. "We're most concerned about the Virgin River. We keep getting more snow in the mountains up there."
January's floods caused more than $180 million in damage to private and public property. Most of the 34 homes destroyed or structurally compromised were in the Green Valley area of St. George along the Santa Clara River. Much of the federal funds received to date were used to build rock berms and riprap riverbanks in the newly widened channel of that river.
A request by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, for an additional $66 million to help stabilize riverbanks and protect watersheds in southern Utah will provide critical funds, said Eardley.
"We are very much hoping that money comes soon, otherwise we are still vulnerable in several areas," he said.
Bennett's spokeswoman said the senator expects the House to vote on the issue at some point this week. The Senate will vote on the emergency funding request next week, and then send it on to President Bush for his signature, said Mary Jane Collipriest.
"We don't anticipate any changes in the funding Sen. Bennett secured for Utah flood relief," she said Monday afternoon.
Jason Chaffetz, Huntsman's chief of staff, along with Public Safety Commissioner Bob Flowers, arrived about 20 minutes late for the 9:30 a.m. meeting. Several people who arrived on time said they were unsure why they were there. A few of those invited to the meeting left before the governor's staff arrived.
"I didn't know anything about this," Eardley said with a big smile once Chaffetz was introduced to the group. "I guess I ought to check with the media every Monday to see what's going on."
In spite of the late start, Eardley said he was very pleased with the amount of attention Washington County has received from the governor's office.
Chaffetz said he was there to listen and learn, and to "make sure we're doing all we can do to help."
"It seems you're very well organized down here and we don't want to get in the way," said Chaffetz before asking questions about funding and potential trouble spots in the county.
Ron Whitehead, the county's public works director, said more money is needed before work can even be started on several mitigating projects along the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers.
"We're concerned about the potential for sewage to be put back into the river flow," said Whitehead, pointing out that sewer lagoons for Enterprise, Springdale and Rockville are vulnerable and need to be protected from any potentially damaging floodwaters. "I'm not saying it's perilous, but we need to get the work done so (the sewer lagoons) don't open up. If they should breach, that's 18 to 20 surface acres of sewage coming down the river."
Santa Clara's main sewer line was destroyed during January's floods and the city is just now able to begin laying new pipelines. For the past few months, Santa Clara has been pumping its sewage out of several main manholes and transporting it to a wastewater treatment plant.
A main irrigation line maintained by the Washington County Water Conservancy District was also destroyed during January's floods. In order to provide water this summer to irrigation users, that pipeline also must be replaced as quickly as possible.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com
