The family of three that perished in a mudslide below the collapsed Logan Northern Canal is gone. But thankfully, it appears that the tragic deaths of Jacqueline Leavey and her children have not been forgotten by the government that did nothing to prevent this catastrophe.

We'd like to tell you that state officials have heeded the call to conduct an investigation into the cause of the incident. It appears that the 100-plus-year-old canal was, at the least, a contributing factor.

The canal, which was known to be leaking above Canyon Road in Logan where the Leaveys died and seven homes were damaged or destroyed July 11, has been blamed for dozens of landslides dating back to the 1800s.

But neither Cache County, the local police, the state attorney general, governor-to-be Gary Herbert nor the City of Logan, which owned shares in the canal and helped maintain the channel, will conduct or order an official inquiry into the cause.

Whether the canal is to blame and negligence was a factor, and whether that negligence rose to the level of a crime, will never be known. And the opportunity to find the cause and use the knowledge to prevent future slides has been lost.

But we're pleased to read that a pair of state boards, the Utah Water Development Commission and the Executive Water Rights Task Force, are penciling irrigation canal safety onto their agendas for upcoming meetings.

Herbert has asked the task force to examine safety issues related to the state's 5,300 miles of privately owned canals, and the potential for state oversight of the system.

Dennis Stowell, a Republican state senator from Parowan and co-chairman of the Water Development Commission, says his group will discuss canal safety, liability, inspections and the adequacy of the state's water-project loan fund, which canal owners can tap for improvements and repairs.

The most heartening development occurred on Capitol Hill, where state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, has already opened a bill file to address canal safety concerns. Sandstrom sponsored legislation last year that authorized state inspections and oversight of private dams, and he should follow suit with his canal bill.

The end result of these efforts, for the sake of citizens who live below the state's spiderweb of privately owned canals, must be government oversight. Only a rigorous inspection regimen, stringent safety standards and state regulation of canal construction, operations and repairs can prevent future tragedies.