A Park City official on Tuesday said there have not been reports of flooding within the city limits during the opening weeks of the runoff, but the municipal government is continuing to take steps to prepare for the possibility of waterways jumping their banks as the snowpack continues to melt.
Troy Dayley, the public works director, said the water flow in Poison Creek and McLeod Creek on Monday were the highest to date of the runoff season. The water was continuing to rise early in the week, he said.
The runoff, though, could slow later in the week with the arrival of cooler weather. The National Weather Service forecast on Tuesday called for decreasing temperatures with highs in the high 40s on Friday and Saturday, with a chance for snow both days.
Dayley said the runoff is not expected to peak in the Park City area until the end of May. The projection is based on historical data, but it is not clear if the runoff from the extraordinary snowpack will occur on the same schedule as in the past.
The Park City Police Department is assisting with the efforts to monitor the waterways. Agency logs from late April showed officers regularly checked locations along Poison Creek and McLeod Creek.
Dayley said public works officials sent the Police Department maps identifying nearly 30 locations in Park City that are at risk of flooding. He said officers are checking the locations during their routine patrols if time permits.
The police logs indicated officers stopped at some of the locations in late April. The officers generally reported no flooding or no significant flooding. They also checked to ensure there was not debris in the waterways. Debris could restrict the flow of the creeks and cause the water to overflow the banks.
Some of the police waterway checks included on April 26 at 10:23 p.m., when an officer found there was no debris blocking the grate on Poison Creek in the area of Iron Horse Drive and Bonanza Drive as well as on April 27 at 10:04 p.m., when there was no flooding or overflow issues and no debris at the Poison Creek grate along Daly Avenue. An officer on April 27 at 10:23 p.m. stopped at Poison Creek in the area of the southern entrance to the China Bridge garage, reporting “good water flow,” no obstructions of the waterway and no flooding.
The Public Works Department continues to make sandbags available to residents and businesses. Someone may collect up to 25 filled sandbags, if they are available, or an unlimited number of unfilled sandbags and the sand to fill them at the Public Works Building on Iron Horse Drive. The sandbags – filled or unfilled – are available to any residents or businesses in Park City or surrounding Summit County.
The department has been distributing the sandbags for weeks. Residents and businesses have picked up more than 10,000 sandbags since the distribution started.
Sandbags may be requested from Park City via a hotline at 435-615-5463.