Garfield County commissioners said work is underway to rebuild a damaged dam at West Panguitch after an emergency declaration and state funding secured through early legislative support.

County leaders told the commission the dam repair was treated as an emergency after engineers warned parts of the irrigation system could be under about 15 feet of water in some sections. Commissioners said state officials, including the governor and several legislators, pushed funding through quickly so the project could move forward without using local tax dollars.

The county’s public works and project administrators described the current status: excavation is in progress, concrete forms will follow and the contractor can pour as much as a foot per day when pouring begins. County staff said the biggest scheduling concern is a cast-iron “thimble” (the part where the gate slides) that engineers recommended because of its resistance to warping. County staff reported cast-iron versions will not be available until March; stainless alternatives could be sourced sooner but the cast-iron part is preferred.

Commissioners and conservation-district representatives credited state legislators including Don Ibsen, Evan Bickers and Carl Albrecht, plus the governor’s office, for securing funds and helping expedite the response. County staff stressed that the state appropriation covered project costs and that taxpayers would not bear the bill.

Officials said the project was organized quickly because county staff and local water users treated it as an urgent life- and property-safety matter. The commissioners said construction scheduling aims to complete the work before peak runoff but that a late delivery of the thimble could slightly reduce the county’s ability to capture spring runoff.

County staff and conservation-district members asked the public to understand why the county became involved in administering the project: the dam failure presented a safety and water-supply emergency, and engineers advised immediate action to protect homes and irrigation systems.

If the cast-iron part arrives on schedule in March, staff said the county expects to complete major work before the primary runoff season. If the part is delayed, staff said the county would manage water releases and that safety and irrigation functions would be prioritized.

The county did not report a final contract amount during the meeting; commissioners said the state-provided appropriation covers the project and highlighted the cross-jurisdictional cooperation that secured the funding.