City Creek is a small but historically important mountain stream that flows from City Creek Canyon and across part of Salt Lake City, Utah, and into the Jordan River which empties into the Great Salt Lake. About 3,000 residents … People talk about the flood of 1983 pretty much every spring when the snow melts. Jerrie S. Fackrell, “Crews give on canyon roads, tracks,” Deseret News, April 16,  1983, B1. Water down State Street. Things then went from bad to worse during the Memorial Day weekend as temperatures rose into the 90s. On July 29, 2008, a large grass fire started in a section of the canyon and had burned more than 180 acres (0.73 km2) by the following day. The Salt Lake Tribune quoted Utah County Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Clayton as saying that the slide was “a loaded gun up there just waiting to go off.” (Raine) This was a common sentiment felt across all of northern Utah as other streams and rivers were beginning to feel the strains of the spring runoff. Engineering and Environmental Geology of Southwestern Utah, 1992 Pages 1-7. What was left in the spring was an unusually large snowpack that was waiting to release its moisture down the mountain streams. Thistle may be no more.” The Deseret News again added a human touch by reporting that “some of the residents are staying with friends and relatives and others in trailers set up in the Canyon Ward church house.” (Ward, Martz), Federal aid finally came to the residents of Thistle on April 30, 1983, as President Ronald Reagan approved Utah’s request for disaster status for the Spanish Fork slide. This system, administered by Bishop-appointed water masters, delivered drinking and agricultural water to ditches in front of every residents' plot. By July 24 when Brigham Young's party arrived, five acres (20,000 m²) of potatoes had already been planted. State Street in SLC during the floods of 1983 The 1981–82 water year had broken all records; then September 1982 climaxed with ten times more moisture than normal. After the 1983 floods, the debris basin at the mouth of the canyon was enlarged to guard against further damage to surrounding neighborhoods. The soil limitations became evident on April 15, when a mountainside in Spanish Fork Canyon began to move and forced authorities to close the canyon. Literally. Courtesy of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah. June 2, 1983 • Eleven Utah counties declared … This was five feet above what was called the “compromise level.” (Fehr)  In a controversial move, Gov. "After action review" video on the Salt Lake City Flood of 1983. ft. (3 boxes) Abstract: Photos of the flooding at various sites in 1952-1953, and 1983. To save the local businesses from water damage, volunteers worked on through the morning of Memorial Day rerouting the creek from Temple Square to 400 South in downtown Salt Lake City, turning the city into a modern Venice. Holzworth was the Salt Lake County Public Works director in 1983 and the years following when flooding was a major issue in the county and elsewhere in Utah. The newspapers also helped the public to be informed on flood areas around the state. Spring storms were still falling on northern Utah throughout May, and by mid-month it was evident that disaster would soon strike Salt Lake City. (Sillitoe) At times, an occasional fisherman could also be seen casting his lure into the brown waters from one of the bridges. This mudslide was threatening U.S. Highway 6 and two railroad tracks and could potentially disrupt transportation and interstate commerce. It is now about 15 feet higher than the original roadbed.”. Last Thursday I witnessed the beginning of the flooding in Millcreek Canyon. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Saturday, April 16, 1983, that during the previous afternoon, “the highway was measured at rising about a foot an hour. A diversion to the dry bench was made in 1884, piping water to residents on 6th avenue and below. Although initial reports showed promising mineral values, this mining operation did not prove to be profitable and was discontinued in 1874.[3]. The 1983 landslide consisted of detritus from the North Horn and Ankareh Formations that moved along a trough-shaped depression in deeper bedrock (a paleovalley). The average flow for June 23, 1983 was 13,100 cfs. George A. Sorenson, “Storm Provides Flood Control Crews With Preview of Coming Disasters,” The Salt Lake Tribune, May 17, 1983, B1. A sense of foreboding grew valley-wide, as autumn mud slides closed Big and Little Cottonwood canyons and creeks flooded, damaging three hundred homes, roads, and bridges. Although the events in Thistle and Salt Lake City were the prominent news stories, there were several other areas that were affected by the flooding as well. The waterway was also extended six blocks eastward to accommodate the overfilled reservoir in Liberty Park. The DMAD spillway moved into the channel at 12:59 PM releasing an estimated 30,000 cfs over the next three hours. I remembered seeing the slide before they closed down the caynon. In the few weeks to follow, wood bridges were constructed to allow for pedestrians and vehicles to cross the river and linked downtown with Interstate 15. It was, in fact, only a 25-year flood, or a flood that has a four percent chance of occurring in any given year. Whether it was in the spirit of the holiday, or the fact that disaster had been averted, once the water began to flow an impromptu “street festival” broke out among the 4,000 or so volunteers who helped build the waterway. Young named the creeks in Salt Lake Valley on August 22, 1847, calling City Creek such because it was in the heart of the city that the pioneers planned. … This flooding was the result of heavy precipitation that accumulated during the 1981-82 water year, which began in October 1981, and culminated in September 1982. Melting snow from adjacent mountains provides most of City Creek's currents, but the stream flows year-round because of natural springs at the head of the creek. On May 29, 1983, floods … However, water was unavailable in parts of the city, notably The Avenues, then called "the dry bench" because water had to be carried uphill from City Creek below. Gov. By the end of May, the rains had given way to higher temperatures that soared into the 80s. George Raine, “Wall of Debris Holding Water Back,” The Salt Lake Tribune, April 18, 1983, A1. Bonneville is a two-lane road, but cars are permitted in one lane only, and must use this lane as a single-lane road. Douglas L. Parker, “Reagan Approves Disaster Status for Slide,” The Salt Lake Tribune, May 1, 1983, B1. Mud. By the next year, students from six high schools and local Boy Scouts constructed the "Freedom Trail" in the lower part of City Creek Canyon. Determinations of peak discharge for floods of May to June 1983 were made for 11 streams along the northern Wasatch Front from Salt Lake City to North Ogden. Flooding was severe in central and north-central Utah (fig. As the slide began to dam off the Spanish Fork River, rising waters were threatening the nearby town of Thistle. On May 17, the result of these storms was beginning to show as “the rain and snow filled Red Butte and Emigration Creeks to overflowing and in some areas the bubbling water flowed into curbs and gutters.” (Sorenson) It was the same story in the surrounding suburbs of Salt Lake City, and the nearby towns located in Davis and Utah counties, as the groundwater began to push above ground. There is a lot of stories to be tolled about the floods of 83. “The Lake has not since risen within four feet of the elevation it peaked at in 1984.”. Picnic sites are available via reservation. Until 1882 City Creek served as the city's primary water supply, and it continues to provide drinking water to The Avenues and northern parts of Salt Lake City. Rainfall eventually turned to winter snows and, in the process, saturated the ground beyond its capacity. Eventually, the streets dried up and the numbers were tallied. James Starbuck is a junior at The University of Utah. A 1983 Lehi Free Press article hailed Dave Turner a hero for using his backhoe in the weeks prior to the flood to stabilize his neighborhood when many did not feel it necessary. Ward Bishops transferred the responsibility of distributing water to the city council when Salt Lake City incorporated in 1851. City Creek's head is about 8 miles (13 km) up City Creek Canyon northeast of DowntownSalt Lake City. In 1882 the Jordan-Salt Lake Canal was completed, allowing Salt Lake City to access reliable agricultural water. That night, road crews and volunteers began the construction of a second river to divert City Creek southward down State Street. Many Utahns are comparing this year to 1983. Pretty in Print: Newspaper Accounts of Ted Bundy’s First Year in Utah, American Journalism Historians Association, Follow Utah Communication History Encyclopedia on WordPress.com, Associated Students of the University of Utah. By the end of May, updates were regularly printed that gave accounts of flooding in specific areas. Subsequent diversions fed higher parts of the city, but it was not until 1910 that a diversion was constructed high enough to provide water to the whole city. On April 17, 1983, the Deseret News stated that crews were giving up on “trying to keep the road or the railway open through Spanish Fork Canyon and will now concentrate on keeping residents of Thistle and nearby areas from being flooded.” The Tribune reported that within Thistle, 72 families were evacuated “as water backed up behind millions of tons of heaving, sliding mud.” (Clark), By Tuesday, April 19, 1983, this rising water was now being called Lake Thistle. In 1850 Brigham Young himself gained sole rights to the water, although administration continued as usual. Scott Matheson estimated the cleanup costs at about $200 million and declared 13 of Utah's 29 counties disaster areas. Unlike floods caused by immediate heavy downpours, the 1983 flood was the result of abnormally high precipitation totals for several months and culminated into … 1983 Flood Failures and Repairs of DMAD and Gunnison Bend Dams. Norm Bangerter ordered giant pumps that were installed in 1987 to lift the water out of the lake and into the desert to evaporate, to the cost of $65 million. The collapse resulted in the breaching of the reservoir and extensive flooding downstream. Residents of these flood-prone areas dealt with overflowing waterways last summer -- and they know this year could be much worse. The stream originally forked into a stream heading south through Washington Square and the primary branch flowing west, toward Temple Square and approximately down North Temple Street. City Creek flows down State Street as pedestrians cross makeshift bridges. [1] The cause of the fire had been determined to be of human origin as there was no lightning present on the day it started. Terry Holzworth, at his West Jordan home on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. During the spring of 1983, Utah was awakening from one of the wettest winters on record. On June 23, 1983 the DMAD dam broke about 5 miles northeast of Delta, Utah. The canyon is closed to vehicles during the winter, but is open to bicycles and pedestrians. SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — With the amount of snow and rain Utah has received in 2019, many are reminiscing about the massive floods in Utah in 1983. Two people were killed in boat wrecks on the swollen Ogden River. The flood wave took out the fill at both ends of the bridge on US Highway 6 some three miles below DMAD Reservoir. The state street river. [7] The state legislature designated it to be State Route 231 in 1941, following 11th Avenue from the fort to a canyon crossing,[8] and then curving north around Ensign Peak to North Salt Lake,[9] but it was not built and was removed from the state highway system in 1945. Landslides in Spanish Fork Canyon are nothing new. (Sillitoe). The narrative that came out of each article, fully told the story of how “the desert did more than bloom like a rose. City Creek was channeled along its western fork, and canals were dug on either side of every street of Salt Lake City. However, plans have been made for a more direct crossing. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. In contrast to the reporting in The Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News took the opportunity to report on the impact the slide would have on the last run of the Rio Grande Zephyr, “the nation’s last privately owned, inter-city passenger railroad,” that was scheduled to run on April 24. Beginning in the early 20th century Salt Lake City and the US Federal government made a concerted effort to buy the watershed of City Creek. Ben Ling, Thomas R. Dowell, and Roderick Pressley, “Sandbaggers Turn State Street Into Aqueduct,” The Salt Lake Tribune, May 30, 1983, A1. At nine of the streams, the floods during the spring of 1983 equaled or exceeded the 100-year flood. Thistle Creek Flood in 1983 — The winter of 1982-83 brought record moisture into the Wasatch Mountains. Although television news covered the events, it was the newspapers that really captured the narrative with each article. “Warm Days Heat Up Utah Flood Battle,” The Salt Lake Tribune, May 27, 1983, B1. Saturday night, May 28, the North Temple conduit became clogged and the whole river overflowed into the streets, down Canyon Road and onto State Street. Utah Flood in 1983. Soil Conservation Service, 1983). Flood damage totaled $8.4 million, including $1.9 million in Salt Lake City. Jon Ure, “Flooding Erupts From Memory Grove,” The Salt Lake Tribune, May 29, 1983, A1. The Deseret News noted that “traffic was snarled … as crews blocked major roads and turned them into rivers.” (Davidson) Around the Salt Lake Valley, the melting snowpack was overfilling the numerous creeks and streams and prompted Salt Lake’s mayor, Ted Wilson, to declare a state of emergency for the city. Utah State Historical Society: Call number: Mss C 353: Creator: Title: Salt Lake City Flooding Photograph Collection, 1952-1983: Quantity: 1.5 lin. He is majoring in mass communication with an emphasis in new media and is minoring in arts and technology. The water, mud and debris caused more than $250,000 in … The first indication of problems occurred in Salt Lake City, Utah, where major streets were turned to rivers and in Bountiful, Utah, were normally small creeks were causing massive mud slides and moving houses of … He was dubbed the "Flood Czar" in … ", http://www.slcgov.com/utilities/public-utilities-city-creek-reservations, Proceedings of First Annual Highway Engineering Road School, March 4, 5, and 6, 1940, City Creek: Salt Lake City's First Water Supply, Utah History To Go - 1983 Floods in Salt Lake City, City Creek: Salt Lake City's First Water Supply (.pdf file), Kadinsky, Sergey "City Creek, Salt Lake City", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=City_Creek_(Salt_Lake_County,_Utah)&oldid=1021125399#Flood_of_1983, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 May 2021, at 01:39.
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