In a drought year, fire may seem a more significant threat to the Heber Valley than flood. But the presence of the Provo River and tributary streams means during major events, rivers can overflow and put low-lying areas at risk.
Vulnerable areas are mapped out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and those maps are changing. Midway Planning Director Michael Henke presented a draft of FEMA’s updated maps at a City Council Meeting May 5.
“We have been in a three-year process with the state and federal government to update these floodplain maps. And so what's being updated is in Wasatch County and a small area of Summit County, they have gone through and used more accurate technology,” Henke said. “In some areas, [the flood area] has reduced. In some areas, it is actually expanded. And that's based off of a new topography that we've got. It's very accurate.”
The current map was adopted in 2010. A blue stripe runs through the center of Midway, identifying areas where Snake Creek would overrun its banks during an extreme flood, identified by FEMA as a “100-year event.”
“And what our code requires is that structures cannot be placed within that flood plain, except under very strict circumstances. And for any new subdivisions there's a 50-foot setback from the flood plain,” Henke said.
Heber City has a similar code. By respecting FEMA maps, communities qualify for federal aid in the event of a disaster.
Henke says the new maps don’t impact existing homes in Midway.
“I did go through the whole town and I didn't see any homes that were now in the floodplain that weren't in the past, because that would require them to have flood insurance if they have a mortgage. So that would increase what they're paying. Over in Heber, it looks like there's quite a few homes that have been included into that 100-year flood plain [in the new draft],” he said.
Those homes lie along Center Street in Heber, as well as Center Creek along the city’s south edge.
Wasatch County also maintains a map for at-risk areas should the Jordanelle Dam fail.
State emergency managers say accurate mapping can guide development in flood-prone areas. Henke recognized those concerns exist in the Heber Valley.
“Heber is moving," he said. "They continually are growing out into the North Fields, and so more and more of those homes will be in that floodplain area.”
According to Henke, the city can consult the updated maps for development applications before they are officially adopted, which will likely take 1-2 years.
The Utah Division of Emergency Management has opened a month-long comment period for the draft maps.