Price City officials report setback with Carbon Canal over reservoir MOU; flooding, culvert and water-share concerns discussed

At a recent Price City Council meeting, city officials described a setback in talks with Carbon Canal over a proposed reservoir MOU and discussed continuing local flooding concerns that officials say are linked to canal flows and infrastructure chokepoints.

City staff and council members reported they had met with Carbon Canal representatives to discuss a memorandum of understanding for a reservoir project but that the canal entity declined to sign the MOU at this time, citing governance and funding concerns. The council speaker said Carbon Canal representatives want control of the conservancy district; the conservancy district includes individuals who do not hold water shares, which the city and other stakeholders flagged as a governance issue. Price City staff said some people at the Carbon Canal table are not large water consumers and that a separate individual who was not present holds a majority of Carbon Canal water shares.

City officials said the funding picture is uncertain and remains a major concern; when asked about sources or committed amounts, the meeting record shows funding was discussed but not specified. Officials noted several local supporters have submitted letters backing the project, including Bobby Olsen, Mark Olsen and John Houston.

Council members and staff also described recent flooding problems in the county and in Price that they link to how water is released from the Jensen floodgate and how that water interacts with the Carbon Canal. Officials said the canal receives pulses of water that can overload downstream sections and that at least one culvert on a local drainage route is undersized and acting as a choke point. National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff and local crews were praised for proactive cleanup and for identifying key problem locations; city crews and contractors will pursue targeted fixes, including replacing or upsizing undersized culverts where appropriate.

Council members said they heard upset residents at a recent county commissioners’ public forum about flooding and that Price City officials described how their floodgates and operations send water through the same corridors that affect Carbonville and other neighborhoods. Staff indicated they will continue to strategize with the county, canal representatives and individual water-share holders to pursue both short-term mitigation (cleaning, culvert work) and longer-term agreements on governance and funding for larger infrastructure projects such as a reservoir.

No formal motions or votes on the reservoir, conservancy governance or funding were recorded in the meeting transcript; council members described continued outreach and planning.

Why it matters: The issues discussed cover both acute local flooding that affects streets and properties and larger regional water-management questions (reservoir governance and water shares) that could influence future water availability and local infrastructure costs.

What's next: Officials said they will continue outreach with Carbon Canal representatives and with county commissioners, pursue engineering fixes for identified chokepoints and reconvene stakeholders to try to resolve governance and funding disagreements.