Salt Lake City Project Impact

 


November 1, 1999

“Partnership for a Disaster Resistant Community”

We often take the quality and reliability of our nation’s enviable infrastructure for granted.  That is, until there is a natural disaster which disrupts this service at a time of critical need.  Natural disasters cannot be avoided, but the costs and impacts can be minimized through preparation and investment in anticipation of a catastrophic event.  

Salt Lake City, and the Department of Public Utilities, is a proud partner in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Project Impact program.  This grant program was initiated by FEMA under President Bill Clinton and FEMA Director James L. Witt in an effort to reduce the cost of life and property to our nation due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, floods and the like.  Project Impact provides communities with “emergency mitigation” grant seed funds directed at sustainable partnerships at the local, state, federal and private levels to plan and implement improvements to strengthen each communities’ resistance to, and minimize the impacts from, natural disasters.

Salt Lake City was granted “Project Impact Community” status in 1999 with the award of $300,000 in grant monies to 17 projects in the City aimed at earthquake, flood, and wildfire mitigation.  This designation was highlighted with a Signing Ceremony attended by Mayor Corradini and the leaders of various City, State, Federal and private parties on October 20, 1999 at the City & County Building. 

Due to Public Utilities’ responsibility for watershed management, water supply, sanitary sewer, and storm water flood control services, Public Utilities was awarded a total of $190,000 of these grant funds to initiate several major projects under its jurisdiction.   Below is a brief “success tour” of these projects, along with a description of other Department initiatives to develop and maintain “disaster resistant” services to the Salt Lake City community.

  Water System Seismic Upgrades

   The Salt Lake City Public Utilities water system Capital Improvements Plan (CIP)    for the past decade has included upgrades of all of the water system facilities to    earthquake seismic zone 4 standards, above the zone 3 seismic rating for the          Wasatch Front.  By the end of year 2000, all 32 of the City’s water tanks and         reservoirs will be upgraded to zone 4 seismic standard.

The Big Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant provides critical supply of 40 million gallons per day of culinary water and fire protection to Public Utilities 134 square mile water service area.   In addition, the proximity of the Plant a mere 100 yards from the Wasatch Fault and at the mouth of the canyon poses additional risk to the nearby residential community should an earthquake destroy critical parts of the Plant.

Project Impact is provided $45,000 in grant funds for seismic reinforcement of a 200,000 gallon steel backwash water storage tank located at the Big Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant.   Public Utilities completed seismic upgrades of the Chemical Feed and Filter Buildings at the Water Plant in 1999, totaling more than $4M in capital expenditures. The Project Impact grant will complete the Backwash Tank seismic improvements, and the City is currently seeking Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding to assist in seismic improvements to the Floc Settling Basins, which would bring the entire Water Plant to seismic zone 4 standards.

   City Creek SNOTEL

Dan Schenk, head hydrologist with the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, and Randy Julander, supervisor of the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Utah Field Office, recently combined forces to complete construction of a new satellite telemetry snowcourse at the Louis Meadows site 7 miles up City Creek Canyon.  Project Impact provided $20,000 for this important watershed partnership project.


 

Dan Schenk, and others before him at Public Utilities, have collected monthly snow data at this site since 1934 to provide flood predictions, as well as estimate water flow for management of this scarce resource for our desert community.  Information from the City’s 17 snowcourses is manually collected by the Salt Lake City hydrologists via back-country skiing, snowmachine, and helicopter as necessary.  This information was critical in early prediction and management of the unparalleled floods of 1983 and 1984.

Conversion of the Louis Meadows snowcourse to a “SNOTEL” site will allow more frequent and accurate data to be transmitted instantaneously via satellite to the NRCS web page for use in runoff predictions and water supply management.  This will become the 6th SNOTEL site operated by the NRCS in the Wasatch Range.  The NRCS SNOTEL information may be viewed at http://utdmp.utsnow.nrcs.usda.gov/. 

   City Creek Stream Gauge

In addition to the SNOTEL site, Project Impact provided $20,000 to install new stream gauges on City Creek.   The stream gauges will improve flood control and water supply management, and will be used in conjunction with the SNOTEL site data for important “characterization” of this watershed basin Flood Potential Index.

The first stream gauge will be installed upstream of the City Creek Water Treatment Plant for accurate characterization of the natural watershed. In addition, this will provide Treatment Plant operations staff with an accurate measurement of water flow upstream of their facility, which will improve Plant operations and response to variations in Creek flow.  The second stream gauge will be installed below Memory Grove Park to obtain an accurate measurement of flow from the lower watershed just prior to entering the City’s storm drainage system.

The 1983 floods show what damage City Creek can cause to the heart of Salt Lake City.  The Creek flows through Memory Grove Park and City Creek Parks, where it is diverted west underneath North Temple Street to the Jordan River.   These stream gauges, along with the SNOTEL site, are among several mitigation measures implemented to date to prevent a recurrence of the downtown “rivers” and flooding which impacted Salt Lake City in 1983.

   Bonneville Shoreline Trail Improvements

$50,000 of Project Impact grant monies, along with numerous in-kind Partnership contributions, will be used for recreational, wildfire mitigation, and emergency access improvements to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail above Salt Lake City.

Although the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is largely complete along the Wasatch Front above Salt Lake City, there are still segments, upgrades, and access points to be developed.  The Watershed Division of Salt Lake City Public Utilities is actively working with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) Committee, the Utah Division of Forestry, US Forest Service and the City Planning and Fire Departments to prepare a scope of work for improvements of this multiple use facility.  A workplan is currently being developed for improvements to the  Lime Kiln Canyon section above the University of Utah, and a section above the Utah State Capital and Avenues near the Water Department’s Morris Reservoir site.   The proposed improvements would:

  ü     Provide a new trail access at Lime Kiln Canyon above the University of Utah,

  ü     Increase the firebreak at the urban development/wilderness interface,

  ü     Improve trail access for rescue vehicles and fire fighting equipment, and

  ü     Provide a mobilization and helicopter staging area above the Avenues.

 

Construction of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail improvements will begin in the summer of year 2000.

  Wildfire Education “Get in the Zone!”

The “Get in the Zone” program is an exciting public education campaign financed in part by a $10,000 Project Impact grant.  The program is designed to increase resident participation in wildfire defense and reduce their risk of wildfire. The Watershed Management Division of Salt Lake City Public Utilities is cooperating with the US Forest Service, Utah State Forest Service, City and County Fire Departments, Planning and other agencies to address both Salt Lake City and Utah State wildfire education.

This project consists of a media and public education program which will include a video emphasizing the potential risk and impacts of wildfire to urban wilderness interface of Salt Lake City and other Utah communities.  In addition, there will be brochures along with the Urwin and Wufi Children’s wildfire education program, a web based wildfire story and coloring program for kids (http://www.fema.gov/kids/games/colorbk/).  Private partnerships are being developed with local businesses and celebrities to “bring the message home”.  This project is initially focused on City Creek Canyon wildfire hazard, to work along with the canyon flood mitigation projects.

   Jordan River Flood Control

Salt Lake County Flood Control is replacing the Surplus Canal diversion structure located on the Jordan River at 2100 South in Salt Lake City.  The old structure had many operational difficulties, and was in need of repair.  The Surplus Canal, along with numerous stream gauge measuring devices, allows the City and County to coordinate flood control and divert potential Jordan River food water to the northwest through the Surplus Canal, and avoid flooding of City communities in the low lying areas of the Jordan River on the north side of Salt Lake City.

Project Impact is providing $45,000 in funds to design and install a stream gauge with remote telemetry Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) at the Surplus Canal, 9000 South, and 500 North sites in conjunction with the County’s $629,000 Surplus Canal Diversion Structure replacement project.  This will allow both the City and County to view Jordan River flow data instantaneously for better feedback and management of Jordan River flood control.

 

   Links for More Information

 

For more information on Project Impact, see FEMA at http://www.fema.gov/impact/. 

The Salt Lake City Emergency Management office can be reached at http://www.slcclassic.com/services/emergency_man/index.html/.

The State of Utah Center for Emergency Management (CEM) can be reached at http://www.cem.state.ut.us/.

 

For more information regarding Salt Lake City Public Utilities’ involvement in these various projects, please contact Tom Ward (thomas.ward@ci.slc.ut.us, 801-483-6884,).