Time, Date, Location
3:00pm, October 18th, 51 East Main Street, American Fork, Utah, UT 84003
Subject of Meeting
Dry Creek, Silver Lake Flat Dam, Tibble Fork Dam, Grove Creek/Battle Creek, Dam Tender, Financial Report
Agency Background
The area affected by the District is the northern portion of Utah County which includes: American Fork, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, Alpine, Highland, Manila, Cedar Hills, and portions of north Utah County.
The District was also organized to represent certain special interests; specifically, sheep and cattle interests, soil conservation district, irrigation companies, and Utah County.
The Mission of the North Utah County Water Conservancy District is: To create and maintain structures that provide for watershed protection, flood control, and debris removal at Silver Lake, Tibble Fork, Dry Creek, Battle Creek and Grove Creek dams.
Board/Committee Contacts
John Jacobs, Attorney
Richard W. Mecham, Irrigation Companies Rep.
Larry Mendenhall, Highland Manila Area Rep.
Ernest M. John, American Fork Rep.
O. Hunt Willoughby, Chair
Carl S. Clark, Lehi Rep.
Tanner Ainge
Lynn Walker, Director at Large
Sid Smart, Cattle Interests Rep.
Don Wadley, Soil Conservation District Rep.
Michael Chambers, Vice Chair
The North Utah County Water Conservancy District October meeting was located at the American Fork City Administrative Building inside their main conference room. The environment was very amicable. Everyone was very friendly with each other, chatting amongst themselves about non meeting related matters before the beginning of the actual meeting. They seemed to be friendly with one another and familiar with one another as well.
The setting was a basic conference room, with a big rectangular table in the middle of the room, surrounded by 8 chairs to the sides and 3 chairs at the head of the table and surrounding chairs for what I can only assume would be interested residents.
The meeting’s attendees consisted of all 12 officials with no residents in attendance.
The meeting started a tad later than expected, beginning at 3:13 pm.
No handouts given out besides the agenda.
Start of the Meeting
The meeting started with Michael Chambers, Vice-Chair, introducing the agenda and all those in attendance.
Lynn Walker, Director at Large
Sid Smart, Cattle Interests Rep.
Don Wadley, Soil Conservation District Rep.
Michael Chambers, Vice Chair
John Jacobs, Attorney
Lorne Powell, Lehi City
Richard W. Mecham, Irrigation Companies Rep.
Larry Mendenhall, Highland Manila Area Rep.
Ernest M. John, American Fork Rep.
Julie Gilman, Sheep Interests
Greg Allred, Lehi Rep.
Ron Mann
First thing on the agenda was reviewing the minutes from the previous meeting on August 17th. Revisions included one by Richard Mecham, about not being on the roll call and one by Michael Chambers about the wedges not holding the last 7 to 9 gallons per minute flow on the lower gates at Silver Lake Flat. With those minutes being entertained by Michael Chambers, motioned by Richard Mecham, and second by Sid Smart, the minutes were passed.
Dry Creek
The first item was the Dry Creek trail, more specifically talking about the installation of a new fence around the spillway to keep people from throwing rocks into it. The installation of the fence going well.
The debris basin cleanup is ongoing, with plans to talk to the group who is doing the clean up for the state prison site. However, no deal has been met yet. Currently, there are 25,000 yards of debris consisting of a lot of rock and gravel around the area. This is expected to grow with all the water the area has been getting. Next up was Lorne Powell, who spoke about concerns from Lehi City regarding the Dry Creek Trail and receiving a grant. Unfortunately, the initial response was not positive regarding the grant. “We’ve made a request to talk to them [Lehi City] again perhaps…” said Powell, “But it doesn’t look promising right now that that grant will be allowed to be extended”. The Lehi City tourism board has been a fan of the grant, suggesting that it promotes tourism and intrigues tourists to come to Utah Valley to recreate.
The city of Lehi has mixed feelings towards the Dry Creek project according to Powell, and don’t see it as a big priority.. With the city growing more and more, there’s a lot on the city’s plate. The city is moving a lot of their money ($17 million to be specific) onto a park in the city.
Silver Lake Flat
Next on the agenda was the Silver Lake Flat. There were discussions amongst the group regarding the contractors who have been doing repairs on the property. The concrete that was removed/replaced was about 20,000 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch). Contractors chipped everything away on the raceways and replaced them. They also installed new stainless steel lines to the lower gates surrounding some areas, along with a new fence and bottom rail on the same fence as well. Much needed renovations are also happening all over at Silver Lake.
Ernest John spoke next on Silver Lake, saying the last time he was there was this past Saturday, October 14t). He saw that this was a good year for the reservoir. It was filled up in 3 ½ weeks, thanks to the amount of precipitation that the state has been receiving. “On a normal year, this time of year, our inflow was going to be 1.5 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second) if we’re lucky,” said John, “And we’re running about 4 without the rain, when it rains we get even more”. He also said he’s been seeing positive effects of the rain on both Silver Lake and Tibble Fork, both getting good runoff.
Tibble Fork
The Tibble Fork dam was the next thing on the agenda. Ernest John said that there was another chance to clear out wood and other debris off the dam, just in time for the upcoming winter. He also said that the water levels have been fantastic and have been maintained steadily for the fish who call Tibble Fork home.
Grove Creek and Battle Creek
Lynn Walker gave updates on Grove Creek and Battle Creek. He said that the rain resulted in more water for the free basins, which in years past, a rain storm wouldn’t affect it anywhere. Another piece of good news was that water is staying in the debris basin, resulting in groundwater, and a natural recharge in the drinking water.
Finances
Although none of them required a motion by the group, members shared information to keep the group updated.
All expenses seemed to be valid and necessary. These included dumping more water to raise levels, clearing debris, clearing areas of different things, mining rocks at entrances, weed control, putting cameras down the pipes and then cutting pipes off at Silver Lake, and reading phasometers.
To end the meeting, Michael Chambers asked for feedback from the group regarding a new proposed sign to be placed at all areas mentioned previously (Such as Dry Creek, Silver Lake, Tibble Fork, etc.).
Although the sign wasn’t shown to some due to some technical difficulties, it was described as having a background photo, all stakeholders names across the bottom and advisories on it.
The opinion on it seemed to be mixed, with some being very for it and some of the other officials raising some concerns. For example, worries of it having premature statements on it, being too wordy, needing to be condensed, being a tad redundant, the size of it (4x8 and 3x5 were discussed), and concerns about where to put it.
The proposed placement areas were at the gates of Battle Grove, Dry Creek, and Tibble Fork, the aim being to “go for more of a commercial look as opposed to a forest service look,” said Michael Chambers.
There were also worries of putting it in an area where the general public would be able to see them. It was suggested they go at the parking lot trailhead at Grove Creek, the entrance fence at Battle Creek and the gate dam at Silver Lake. Ernest John also suggested,”outside on the dam by the control box because there’s a lot of people that walk that dam,”. All suggestions would be taken into consideration and the sign would be discussed further at next month’s meeting.
The next meeting will be Thursday, November 9th. The tentative budget to be discussed with the final budget hearing being on December 21st. Meeting was officially adjourned at 4:14 pm.
Summary
Meeting went smoothly, with every member voting in favor of every motion presented
This year’s heavy rainfall has had a positive effect on the Silver Lake Flat.
A new sign is being put up at various different water locations in the valley.
Follow-Up Questions
What exactly did the sign actually look like?
How will the snow or possible lack thereof affect each area that was discussed individually?
How much money does this organization have and how much of it are they allowed to spend per year?
Water Documenters is a collaboration between The Salt Lake Tribune and City Bureau and funded through grants from the Great Salt Lake Collaborative and the Rita Allen Foundation. College student journalists from all over Utah are hired to attend and take notes at public water meetings in Utah. These notes are then published for anyone to read or use. The project is aimed at providing better public access to meetings where major decisions are made about a limited Utah resource. For more meeting notes, click here. For more information, click here.