A good rainstorm in Pine Valley used to be one of Robert Hardy’s favorite things.
“I love that — the smell, the quiet, just the pitter patter,” said Hardy, the rural mountain town’s fire chief. “But now every time a cloud blows over, it’s almost like a panic attack. What’s this one gonna bring?”
Months after a wildfire raged through Pine Valley in June, the community is now recovering from a destructive flood and preparing for the next. Rain rushed down the burnt soils, buckling roads, flooding basements and piling logs, boulders and other debris throughout the campground on the night of Oct. 10.
The Washington County Commission on Tuesday declared a local emergency due to widespread flooding. Beyond Pine Valley, heavy rains also damaged homes and infrastructure in other parts of the county, such as New Harmony and Gunlock. Some sediment also washed into the under-construction Chief Toquer Reservoir site and caused minimal damage, according to Karry Rathje, public affairs manager for the Washington County Water Conservancy District.
The county commission also approved a contract with Suncore Construction for immediate flood repairs in Pine Valley. The move is one step in a long recovery for the mountain community, as the burn scar from the Forsyth Fire continues to raise the risk for more flash floods.
“The soil has been baked, and so [water] immediately runs off, and now it’s carrying debris, so it doesn’t effectively go through the channels,” said Todd Edwards, director of the county’s public works department.
(U.S. Forest Service) Floods from recent rains heavily damaged roads and recreation areas in the Pine Valley area in southern Utah.
The county has been cleaning out debris from culverts in Pine Valley, and it will start working with Suncore to repair road damage in town and construct new culverts that will help channel water away from homes during future storms. Edwards thinks it will take less than 30 days to construct the culverts.
The Forest Service also is assessing the damage and began clearing roads in the Pine Valley Recreation Area on Monday, Pine Valley District Ranger Joseph Rechsteiner said in an email. Forest Service employees responding to the flood are exempt from the furlough during the federal government shutdown.
The popular Pine Valley Recreation Area is “closed for public safety until further notice,” the Dixie National Forest posted on Facebook on Monday.
(U.S. Forest Service) Floods from recent rains heavily damaged roads and recreation areas in the Pine Valley area in southern Utah.
While Rechsteiner expects the area will receive more rain this fall and winter, he said the storm earlier this month was “an unusual precipitation event” due to Hurricane Priscilla. Flood risk for Pine Valley is far from over, though.
“We are very concerned about future flooding events on the national forest,” Rechsteiner said in an email. “Summer monsoon rains can be very intense or rapid snow melting could cause more flooding and debris flows. We can expect flooding and debris flows for another 3-5 years, which is typically the amount of time it takes for a watershed to stabilize after a fire.”
The long recovery ahead
(U.S. Forest Service) Floods from recent rains heavily damaged roads and recreation areas in the Pine Valley area in southern Utah.
Over the next year, the county, state and federal agencies will continue coordinating on post-fire recovery to rehabilitate the watershed and reduce flood risks.
The county has received $1.4 million from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program for flood control projects, Edwards said. The project has to go through federal environmental and cultural reviews first before the county can use the funds, though.
Eventually, the county plans to use those funds to construct at least three detention ponds that will catch sediment and debris. If weather allows, Edwards hopes to get those built in January. But if there is snow, construction will have to wait until spring.
Those ponds will have to be regularly cleared out after storms, but Edwards said it’s easier to dig logs, branches and mud out of a pond than a clogged culvert.
The Forest Service has also received funds for some rehabilitation activities, such as trail work and tree felling, and is working with the state to stabilize the forest hillsides by laying mulch and planting seeds, said Rechsteiner.
Meanwhile, the fire department has sandbags and cleaning kits available for homeowners affected by the floods.
“We just appreciate everybody’s help,” Hardy said. “It’s been a great community effort. People outside of the community have helped. So it’s been very heartwarming to see all that outreach.”