SUNSET -- Homeowners in Clinton and West Point can resume unrestricted use of secondary irrigation water on their lawns and gardens beginning Wednesday.
Roy residents won't be quite so lucky, however, and the Roy Water Conservancy Subdistrict plans to continue twice-a-week watering restrictions for at least one more week and possibly longer.Meanwhile, Riverdale Mayor Ben Jones said Wednesday that he has been notified the Federal Emergency Management Agency has declined the state's request for financial assistance on behalf of the city and owners of some 75 damaged homes -- a development that was not unexpected.
Watering restrictions were ordered in mid-July, following a breach in the Davis-Weber Canal above Riverdale that cut water supplies to Davis and Weber county farmers and homeowners by 60 percent.
Regardless of whether restrictions remain in force, however, the canal company's manager is urging all local users of canal water to be conservative in how they irrigate.
Floyd Baham conceded the relief provided by a recent rainstorm and cool weather "has been a lifesaver" and has taken some of the heat off Davis-Weber to meet local irrigation needs.
But a strategy to reroute canal water via the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District's drought relief system has been able to provide only about 40 percent of the pre-breach water flow.
"People still need to be prudent in their watering practices," Baham noted Tuesday.
Roy Watts, manager of the Roy subdistrict, said the large number of users on the Roy secondary system coupled with the commitment to serve about 100 local farms requires that restrictions continue for a while longer.
"Our directors have talked about" lifting the restrictions, he said. "But it probably will depend on the weather."
Watts said more of the subdistrict's precious water supplies have been allocated to school playgrounds and parks during the past few weeks to soften the ground and make it safer for youth sports and recreation use.
In some cases, he said the ground had become so hard cleats can't penetrate the surface and young people were running the risk of increased physical injury from falling or being thrown to the unusually hard turf.
The canal provides water to some 13,000 acres of farmland and about 15,000 homes with secondary irrigation connections.
Jones said he received a letter Tuesday afternoon indicating FEMA would not provide assistance to the city and homeowners because the Davis-Weber Canal Company is a private not-for-profit entity "that is not eligible for FEMA funding."
The mayor also indicated FEMA officials determined the severity of the impact on Riverdale city was not sufficient to justify federal disaster assistance.
It was not unexpected, Jones said. "We kind of thought that's the way it was going."
Jones said he agrees with FEMA's assessment that the total financial impact of the July 11 canal breach on Riverdale city was less than $500,000.
In cases where FEMA assistance is granted, the federal agency traditionally provides direct financial aid to municipalities but only low-interest loans to homeowners.
A group of Riverdale residents who joined in a class-action suit against the Davis-Weber Canal Company says their homes sustained millions of dollars in losses to property and structures.
Jones said the city is prepared to shoulder its economic burden by itself. "We're resilient," he said. 'We'll just move ahead."
But the mayor indicated the city is "encouraging the canal company's insurance firm to settle with victims first."
According to canal company officials, their company carries about $3 million in liability coverage.