The Rich County Commission voted unanimously to act as the local fiscal sponsor for a planning and design project on Birch Creek No. 2 Dam, officials said at the meeting. The move enables the state and FEMA to route grant funds through the county so engineers can carry out a roughly $1 million study needed to bring the high‑hazard dam into compliance.

The county’s sponsorship is required by the grant program and by federal grant management rules, Ben Merritt of the Utah Department of Natural Resources told commissioners. “The grant is called the High Hazard Potential Dams Grant and it is to do planning and design and or construction work on high hazard dams,” Merritt said. “...it’s basically dam safety money.”

Why it matters: Birch Creek No. 2 is classified as a high‑hazard structure and has been out of compliance, county officials said. The planning study will investigate leakage and other failure modes, allow engineers to develop rehabilitation designs and cost estimates, and position the project for subsequent construction funding if needed. Completing the study is a necessary step before major repairs or reconstruction can be funded and scheduled.

What the county approved: Commissioners authorized the county to serve as the fiscal agent — receiving invoices from the project team and submitting them for reimbursement — and to execute a memorandum of understanding to document the arrangement. The commission also instructed staff to update the MOU so the chair’s name (Sam Westin) would appear on the signature line and to return a finalized copy for signing that day.

Funding and schedule details: Project leaders estimated the planning and investigative phase will cost about $1 million. “As of right now ... it’s gonna take us about a million dollars just to do the study,” Merritt said. He told the commission the team hopes to complete the study in about a year if seasonal work (drilling/investigations) can be done before winter. Merritt said the federal High Hazard Potential Dams Grant would pay roughly 65% of eligible project costs and that the Utah state dam safety grant fund is expected to cover most of the remainder. He added that the Woodruff Irrigation Company — the dam owner and project partner referenced by staff — would likely have a small share of required match during construction (he described an approximate 3.5% cost share at that later stage, noting that exact responsibilities depend on final funding allocations).

Project scope and next steps: The work approved is planning and design for rehabilitation of Birch Creek No. 2 Dam, upstream of the Birch Creek Reservoir. Engineers plan field investigations — including drilling and seepage testing — to determine why parts of the dam are leaking and to develop a detailed design and cost estimate. After the study, the project team will pursue a construction grant cycle; Merritt warned federal funding availability can change and said state dam safety funds provide a potential fallback for construction funding.

At the meeting Paul Weatherson of JUB Engineers introduced himself and joined Merritt in answering commissioners’ questions. Commissioners pressed on timing, water levels and whether the work would require lowering the reservoir; engineers said current "fish water" levels would allow the investigations without an additional drawdown in most cases.

Outcome and follow-up: The motion to have Rich County sponsor the project passed unanimously. County staff and the project team agreed to provide a progress update to the commission in roughly six months or sooner if the fiscal paperwork advances more quickly.

Community and operational note: The project was described as similar in structure to the county’s previous sponsorship role for an irrigation‑district dam project. As fiscal sponsor the county will process invoices and receive reimbursements from state or federal agencies; the county itself is not committing construction funds at this vote. The commission’s action primarily enables the engineering and planning steps required to identify the scope and cost of later construction work.