Font ResizeSANDY » Most cities and towns don't have a clear understanding of the assets and liabilities that come with the irrigation canals that run through them, and most canal and ditch companies don't realize how important it is for them to be in on planning and zoning.
Educating those players is key to grappling with complex issues raised following the July 11 collapse of the Northern & Logan Canal in Logan, a landslide that killed a woman and her two children, a panel of experts agreed Monday.
On the orders of incoming Gov. Gary Herbert, a subcommittee of the state's Executive Water Task Force brainstormed for more than two hours at the Utah Farm Bureau, where lawmakers, lawyers, state water officials and irrigation canal company representatives analyzed how to avert canal collapses.
Some suggestions were basic, such as getting canals and their surrounding easements recorded on county plat maps. At the other end was the usual roadblock: money. To oversee the safety of the 6,600 miles of canals in Utah would be more expensive than ongoing efforts to ensure dam safety, a program that started more than 10 years ago and still suffers persistent funding woes.
"It would be a simple solution if the state were flush," said Jodi Hoffman, an attorney working for the Utah League of Cities and Towns. But funding can't even start until someone puts a dollar figure on the task, said Rep. Fred Hunsaker, R-Logan.
That's why the panel on Monday chose to examine responsibility, risk management and safety and maintenance, as well as who is going to pay for it all, rather than who might be liable.
The group seemed to agree that because canals pose benefits and risks across the board, some kind of shared responsibility is in order.
They liked the approach Springville has taken. The Utah County city, which like many uses irrigation canals to manage storm water runoff, created a governmental authority to tax city residents, then turned revenue over to the canal companies to upgrade and buy insurance. Salt Lake City has incorporated canals into its storm water systems, and pays for their upkeep.
Such arrangements require the kind of cooperation that can only come when everyone, including top state officials, learn more about canal risks and responsibilities. Then comes some kind of bottom-up rulemaking, with the state potentially stepping in as an enforcer, suggested Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne.
Last week, Herbert told the task force the three deaths in Logan constituted "a wake-up call" that demands a response, and instructed them to come up with some answers by the end of August.
Meanwhile, municipal documents have revealed that the Northern & Logan Canal -- a waterway cut into a steep bluff -- suffered leaks that the city of Logan knew about and had tried to fix.
State geologists say leakage on the canal was just one of many potential causes for the landslide and canal collapse. Local and state officials, however, have declined to probe any further into the collapse's cause. The families of the victims and others whose homes were damaged in the slide have retained attorneys and lawsuits are likely.
