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Garfield County commissioners discuss emergency declaration as drought, fires strain water and ranching
Summary
Commissioners discussed escalating drought impacts, plans to seek state and federal support, and meetings with the U.S. Forest Service and Utah state officials after the Tropic Reservoir was drained by order of the state engineer, presenters said.
Garfield County commissioners spent a substantial portion of their meeting discussing worsening drought conditions, recent wildfire threats and steps toward a possible emergency declaration to unlock state and federal aid.
Commissioners said ranchers and public-land grazing users are being hurt, and that county leaders plan to push state and federal officials for relief. "Because they are our landlord, basically 93% of this county is federal land," one commissioner said, explaining why federal engagement is necessary. The same commissioner said the county will meet Sept. 2 with Tom Schultz, the National Forest Service chief, to press for action on forest-fire risk.
The meeting included a detailed account of Tropic Reservoir. A commissioner said the state engineer, Teresa Wilhelm, issued orders that led to the reservoir being drained twice: "The state engineer drained the Tropic Reservoir twice. The water company didn't have anything to do with it," the commissioner said. Commissioners said they had scheduled talks with the East Fork Irrigation Company and a state representative to try to resolve access and storage questions related to Tropic.
Commissioners described economic pressure on ranching operations. One commissioner said he had "heard as low as 30%" of ranchers' income affected and said some producers may need to buy additional hay or sell livestock. Commissioners discussed exploring a formal county emergency declaration to open emergency funding. Staff and several commissioners said they planned to draft a resolution and put it on a future agenda for formal consideration.
The discussion also connected drought to wildfire risk. Commissioners said they will prepare letters — including from a coalition of counties and possibly the governor — and present them to federal forest leadership demanding more active fuel reduction and response. County staff said the goal is to coordinate a regional approach because of the federal ownership of most land in the county.
Why it matters: County leaders said the water and fire problems affect recreation, businesses and the agricultural economy. Commissioners framed the measures under consideration — including a possible emergency declaration and federal outreach — as ways to access funding and operational support for water storage projects, grazing relief and forest management.
What’s next: Commissioners instructed staff to draft a resolution and coordinate visits and letters to federal and state officials; no emergency declaration vote occurred at the meeting.
