Summit County Public Works Director John Angell said so far, the area’s streams and rivers are handling the melting snow. He said there are areas that are at more risk of flooding than others.
“The streams for us, McLeod Creek and Willow Creek, East Canyon, they're more early risers,” he said. “And then as spring goes along in May and June, we watch more along Chalk Creek and Provo and Weber rivers. They don't reach their peaks until about the first of June.”
For residents who may live near a flood-prone area, he said there are steps to take now.
“The number one thing is really just make sure your drains, gutters, things like that are not blocked,” he said. “Even a small amount of water that hits a blocked culvert is going to cause problems. Grading around their property is big, but that should already be done by now, but you should always be looking for where water can come into your house and try to mitigate that.”
Angell said sandbags are always available from the public works department at its Wanship location.
“We hand out a limited amount of filled sandbags,” he said. "Usually, we try to limit that to 12 per resident, but we always have sand and bags that they can fill their own.”
The best situation he said is varying spring temperatures so the snow doesn’t melt all at once.
Angell said this year public works will finish the roundabout at Silver Summit and put some finishing touches on the new Mammoth Drive road project in Silver Creek.
Crews will also be reconstructing Old Ranch Road to add a trail to connect the parking lot at the trailhead below Round Valley to Willow Creek Park.
