2 cities eager to prevent floods

Conservancy district representative John Jacobs said he wanted the county commission's help determining what can be considered historical runoff.

Edwards said Highland is using .5 cubic feet per second as "the runoff coefficient that most closely associates with historical flow." Developers in Highland are required to do a study and demonstrate to city officials that the runoff from their respective projects is no more than .5 cubic feet per second, he said.

"If the North Utah County Water Conservancy District thinks (that measurement) is the wrong number, then tell us what the right number is and we'll certainly conform to that," Edwards said.

Draper presents a problem for the conservancy district because the city is part of Salt Lake County but has developed across Utah County borders. The city is is also in the process of hiring a city engineer, said Draper spokeswoman Maridene Hancock. Calls to the former city engineer and interim engineer were not returned.

"From what developers are telling us, Draper city is just saying, 'That's fine. Looks like a good plan. Go ahead a build your homes,' " district board member Kent Evans told the Utah County Commission.

"We're crossing county boundaries," said Frank Mills, a member of the water district's board of directors and Pleasant Grove city administrator. "We're dealing with Draper in Salt Lake County, and we're dealing with Alpine and Highland in Utah County. Unless they'll sit down and listen to us, the residents down below that Dry Creek detention pond are going to be the ones who suffer. Lehi and the incorporated area from Lehi out to (Utah Lake) are going to be the ones suffering."

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