Somewhere around the first of May, the snow and water remaining in the mountains above Davis County fell below the benchmark 1983 disaster level.
That's good news for flood watchers.The runoff so far has been smooth, with no flooding, according to a report given Monday by Sid Smith, Davis County Public Works Director.
While still above average for May, the snow and water levels measured at the 8,000-foot level on Farmington Peak are declining. As of Monday, there is 42 inches of water remaining, compared to the normal amount of about 12 inches.
Smith said there have been no reports of flooding and no sandbagging along any of the dozen streams that cut through the county, draining into the marshes around the Great Salt Lake.
County crews dredged out the Parrish Creek channel west of Centerville but were stopped from dredging Barnard Creek to the north because of a nesting pair of federally protected peregrine falcons in the area.
Smith said federal Fish and Wildlife Service biologists allowed county crews to do some flood control work along the edge of a gravel road that runs parallel to I-15 through the area, but they weren't allowed to work any farther west from the road.
But the runoff is flowing smoothly through the area, Smith said. The feared flooding of the Centerville industrial park west of I-15 at Parrish Lane has not occurred.
The level of standing water in fields in the area is also going down, Smith said. The water level was rising until county crews built a road out of railroad ties through federally protected wetland areas along Parrish Creek in order to move in dredging equipment.
Another potential trouble spot, the rock dam that impounds Farmington Pond, is holding up well, Smith said.
State dam safety officials earlier this spring issued an order that the dam be breached, saying engineering tests indicate it is unsafe. The county appealed the order, saying the dam is capable of containing Farmington Pond and plans are in place to rebuild it this summer. An extension was granted.
Smith said at that time he believed the dam would hold up under all but the most severe or extended runoff conditions and only the spillway was a possible trouble spot. Monday, the county public works director said the dam is solid.
County officials last month mapped out nearly three dozen potential trouble spots from flooding or mudslides, rating their potential hazard to property and lives.
More than 400 homes, 300 of them in Centerville below Deuel and Barnard canyons, were tagged as having a high potential for damage and some potential for loss of life from mudslides.
The debris basins below those two canyons are inadequate and should be enlarged, according to the county.
Other areas earmarked as potential high hazard areas include Baer Canyon above Fruit Heights, the North Fork of Holmes Creek in east Layton, and Snow Creek and the middle fork of Kays Creek, also in east Layton above U.S. 89. *****
Additional Information
Flood watch issued for 2 Cache County rivers
A flood watch has been issued for the Blacksmith Fork and Logan rivers in Cache County.
Snowpack runoff in the past few weeks have raised the two rivers to bankfull levels, and some spot flooding could happen as early as Thursday, said William Alder of the National Weather Service.
The Logan River was running Tuesday at 1,185 cfs (cubic feet per second). Floods occur at 1,350 cfs.
Residents and businesses living close to the waterways sandbagged several stretches of riverbank weeks ago to prepare for high waters.
Unseasonably warm temperatures over the next few days should ease the Cache County flood scenario by prompting a steady, even melt.