High Water Runoff Situation - Monitoring

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EMERGENCY MATRIX

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SANTAQUIN CITY IRRIGATION PIPES, DITCHES AND CANALS

June 13, 2023,

Good day Everyone,

It appears that the highest of the spring runoff water flows have now passed.  While the flow from Santaquin Canyon has diminished somewhat, there is still 3 to 4 times the normal amount of water coming down from the snowmelt runoff.  Fortunately, the current flows are and can be maintained within the drainage channels, pipes, culverts, ditches, and drainage systems that are in place.

Please note that many of the ditches and streams are still flowing swiftly and the water is very cold.  Please continue to keep your families safe.

We do not anticipate additional runoff flows running within city streets.  Over the next few days, we will be removing sandbags from streets and opening roads that have been closed.

As the flow from the canyon has slowed down and flood concerns have diminished, we are moving up one step in our emergency matrix to Level 4 “Monitoring” (https://bit.ly/3WeDWDm).

I want to send out a very heartfelt thank you to our wonderful Santaquin City staff and to so many volunteers who have shown up to help fill and place sandbags.  With those many diligent efforts, we have been able to effectively protect the homes and businesses in Santaquin.

We live in such a wonderful community with fantastic residents and city staff.  We also have great neighboring communities who have also helped us.

Have a great day and please be safe,

Mayor Dan Olson

May 18, 2023 - Stay Safe and Thank You!

Good afternoon once again,

With the high flowing runoff water that is now moving through some areas of town, we want to urge parents to please keep their families safe.  This runoff water is cold and is running very fast.  Please be safe and keep your children safe.

I want to send out a heartfelt thank you to all our wonderful Santaquin City staff and to so many volunteers who have shown up to help fill and place sandbags over the last few days and weeks.

I also want to send a special thanks to Provo City for their assistance in providing additional sandbags!  These additional sandbags have now replenished our stockpile of filled sandbags.  Thank you, Mayor Kaufusi and Provo City staff.

I also want to thank Spanish Fork City for their generous offer for assistance in our time of need.  Thank you, Mayor Mendenhall and Spanish Fork City staff.

We certainly live in a wonderful community with fantastic residents.  We also have great neighboring communities who are willing to help.

Have a great day and please be safe out there,

Mayor Dan Olson

May 17, 2023, 9:30 am - Enhanced Activation Level 3

Good morning to all,

With the higher temperatures we are now experiencing, and with a significant amount of the winter snowpack still up in the mountains, mountain runoff water is now flowing in drainage channels, pipes, ditches, and on several flood streets within certain parts of Santaquin City. 

Due to these high runoff water flows, several local streets have been sandbagged and are now closed.  These streets will remain closed until the high runoff water flows subside.  Please take precautions and be prepared, as access to and from your home may be affected and you may need to take an alternate route to reach or leave your home.

With this high runoff water flowing through several areas of the City, we have now moved to an “Enhanced” activation level 3 within our Emergency Matrix (https://bit.ly/3WeDWDm).  At this Enhanced activation level, we will continue to monitor the situation.  We have also added additional staffing efforts to sandbag areas where needed to help protect homes and property.  

Scan the QR code to review activation level 3.

If you feel that you need sandbags or other assistance, please read all of the information on this page of our website regarding the current water situation.  If you have questions with regard to your specific area, please let us know.

In case you see or experience flooding issues, please call or text our flood emergency contact number 385-344-9316.  This contact number is for flooding emergencies only.  For all other emergencies, we urge you to call 911. 

I want to thank all our public works and emergency management staff as well as Summit Creek Irrigation Company for all of their efforts to help protect homes and property.  These efforts have already done a great deal to help protect our residents and will continue to do so.

I also want to thank the many, many residents and volunteers that have helped fill sandbags and who have done so many other acts of service to help neighbors and our community.  Santaquin has the absolute best residents who are so willing to help.

Thank you for your time,

Mayor Dan Olson

April 13, 2023 High Water Runoff Situation Open House

To view the recording of this open house, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsjKrDJTu_Y

March 27, 2023

Spring Water Run-Off Information

What is Santaquin City doing?

Santaquin City along with the flood committee members are carefully watching our beautiful snow-covered mountains above the City.  As you may know, we have received record-breaking snow pack that has accumulated over the winter.  We anticipate that spring run-off will be extreme.  City staff and flood committee members are diligently preparing for possible rain and run-off water.  City crews have been identifying potential threats and possible flooding areas.  We have also been tracking all available information and will continue to identify potential critical areas of concern.

The City has several thousand unfilled sandbags that can be made available to residents.  The City will also provide the sand to fill the bags.  However, residents will be responsible to fill the empty sandbags on their own.  *If you have concerns about flooding in your area and feel like some sandbags would be beneficial for your use, sandbags are available for free for you to pick up, fill with sand, and utilize on private property.  When any sandbags that were picked up are no longer needed, individuals are responsible to dispose of them.  The City will not deliver sandbags to, or pick up sandbags from, private property. 

Additionally, we have many more sandbags (filled and unfilled) that will be utilized by City crews where and as needed throughout the City to help protect our great community.

City crews have been working diligently to clean and clear culverts, ditches, drainage channels, and other systems to make way for the water that will be flowing high.   

We are all hoping for the very best conditions with a tempered and moderated period of warmer weather followed by cooler spells to help the run-off water come off the mountain in a manageable fashion. 

As always, no one can guarantee that flooding will not occur.  But we want you to know that we, as the City and the flood committee, are making all preparations we possibly can to help prevent flooding. 

*Residents that may want sandbags can obtain the bags and fill them for their own use on private property. Santaquin City will provide both the sandbags and the sand for you to fill. You can pick these up and fill them at the Santaquin City Public Works building located at 1215 North Center Street. Please do not take the filled sandbags that are on the pallets at any City locations. These already filled sandbags that are on the pallets are needed for and will be used by City crews to help prevent possible large scale flooding in the community, if or when the need arises.

What can residents do?

Residents can do the following to help prepare for rain and run-off from melting snow:

• Rake and sweep leaves, grasses, etc. from your yard and discard these by composting or placing them in the trash.  This will help to keep those same leaves from possibly clogging up City storm drain systems. 
• Keep gutters and City streets free from leaves and debris.  Even if leaves and debris did not originate from your yard, please consider scooping them up and discarding them.  Leaves and debris can and will travel downstream and plug inlets and the City’s storm drain systems.
• Keep storm drain inlets free from obstructions.  Similar to gutters, if you notice a lot of leaves and or debris on a storm drain inlet, please take a rake or a shovel and clear the inlet.  We are all part of this great community.  Your vigilant efforts could help you and your neighbors.
• Evaluate your home landscaping and concrete slopes.  Ask yourself, where does water usually/naturally flow around your home?  If you have storm water that flows toward  your home, window wells, stairs, etc., consider improvements to direct water away from your home. 
• If you have a ditch, canal, or culvert on or adjacent to your property, clean the conveyance channel from sticks, leaves, trash, debris, etc.  If there have been modifications made, including fill dirt, pipes, bridges, or landscaping, please restore the conveyance channel to its original condition.  It can be tempting when you don’t traditionally see water flowing in these channels to modify pipes, channels, etc.  But it is absolutely necessary to keep the channel clear and free flowing. 
• Avoid parking vehicles with tires in the gutter lines.  This may block water flow and could cause debris to pile up and clog City drainage systems. 
• Remove any curb ramps or obstructions in the gutter that could cause water to back up or debris to pile up.    
• Please call the City office if you see an issue with flooding or if there is something you are not able to take care of on your own.

Thank you, for all you do, for our Great City!

Mayor Olson

March 18, 2023

Hello Santaquin residents and business owners,

I hope this note finds you all well.

I wanted to write regarding our current 2023 water year situation.

As you know, we have experienced a very heavy and wet winter season.  At present, (as of March 18, 2023), our current snow pack along with the amount of water in that snow pack is at historically high levels.  That said, the current snow pack and water therein is at roughly the same level as it was back in 2019.  2019 is the highest year we have on record for the Snotel site up in the Santaquin Canyon Meadows (No official records exist dating back to the floods of 1983).

In and around Santaquin City, there are many drainage systems that have been in place for decades.  These systems include the Utah County owned and operated debris basin at the mouth of Santaquin Canyon and the downstream overflow channel, pipes, ditches, culverts, and canals owned and operated by the Summit Creek Irrigation & Canal Company, and the pipes, channels, culverts, etc., owned and operated by Santaquin City. 

As your Mayor, I have witnessed all of these facilities as they have operated successfully for decades to attenuate high water flows and as they have protected Santaquin residents.  These systems are currently functioning properly.  We anticipate that they will continue to do so over the next few weeks and during the anticipated high water flows that are ahead of us. For instance, did you know that, during the 2019 high water flows, all of these systems worked very well.  During that high water runoff year, no homes were flooded. 

There are also a few newer systems that have been constructed within the last decade or so.  These newer systems have also operated as designed and have helped protect homes from flooding.

With all of that said, nothing is perfect.  Some flooding may be experienced.  For instance, if the weather heats up very quickly, high runoff flows will increase.  Additionally, if we receive a very heavy “rain on snow event” up in the mountains, high runoff flows will increase.  We have not experienced either of these types of events to this point this year, and we hope to not have to face them.  But none of us can control “Mother Nature”.  As a note, the rains that we have recently received down here in town over the past couple of weeks (with snow in up in the canyon), are typically not so much of an issue.  Our existing stormwater systems are currently functioning properly. 

As I stated in my March 2023 newsletter article (https://www.santaquin.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/community/page/16464/march_2023_newsletter.pdf),

“Generally, the high runoff water starts around the first week of April and will ramp up as the temperatures increase.  We should see peaks in May.  We will work diligently to maintain the best control possible of all of the waters that flow from the canyons.”

“To ensure you are all aware, the committee that manages flood mitigation and high runoff water consists of Santaquin City, the Utah County engineer, the Utah County maintenance dept., Summit Creek Irrigation and Canal Company, and others.  We have met with this committee and will continue to meet monthly and then possibly bi-weekly as we near the high-water season.  These meetings ensure that attention is being paid to all details and eyes are on every area where issues may occur.”

If you are new to Santaquin or live in a newer home, please make sure to direct storm water coming from your yards, roofs, and downspouts away from your window wells.  We have heard of a couple of instances where basements did experience some flooding due to these types of issues.  These are typically a result of insufficient drainage for landscaping, roof drains, downspouts, and areas around window wells and homes. 

At present, our high water runoff has not yet started in earnest. If the time arises where and when we need your help as volunteers, we will put the call out on our website, through City social media channels, etc.  If a need arises, we may ask for volunteers to fill and place sandbags, or help your neighbors, etc.

Again, please know that the flood committee is working to take all precautions that are possible to help protect homes and businesses in Santaquin.   We will continue to do so.

The very best that can happen is that Mother Nature will cooperate with periods of warmer days followed by cooler days.  If this can happen, the high runoff water can come down in a more orderly fashion and the existing systems can handle the flows. 

If you happen to live near a major drainage channel, ditch, etc., that may run adjacent or through your yard, we encourage you to remove any debris, trees, sticks, trash, etc.  City crews have already done quite a bit of this clearing and cleaning, but we can always use your help in areas we don’t see or cannot get to. 

Additionally, if you live near a major drainage channel or other area and feel that you would like a few sandbags, the City has a limited number of those that you can fill and use for your individual homes. 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact myself (mayor@santaquin.org), our City Manager, Norm Beagley (nbeagley@santaquin.org), or our City Emergency Manager, Chris Lindquist (clindquist@santaquin.org).

All my best to you and your families,

Mayor Dan Olson