Castle Valley draft hazard-mitigation plan updated to address power lines, culverts and upstream flood controls

The Castle Valley Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee on March 25 reviewed a draft update to its hazard-mitigation plan that adds new measures addressing the vulnerability of overhead power lines, the condition and capacity of culverts and options to coordinate with federal land managers on upstream flood controls.

The committee's discussion focused on three near-term priorities: noting Rocky Mountain Power's safety settings for the grid; increasing evaluation and maintenance of culverts and streambeds; and pursuing coordination with the Bureau of Land Management on upstream retention features that could reduce flows into town.

Bob Ashley, a committee member, urged the plan to treat power-line vulnerability explicitly, noting local history and state and national examples: "the old Castle Valley covenants' requirements did note that or require that all power lines would have to be buried underground," Ashley said, adding that deliberate power shutdowns by utilities during high-wind events and wildfire risk are now a documented mitigation measure.

Mason Kemp, mitigation planning leader at the Utah Department of Emergency Management, told the committee that federal guidance is in flux but that the town should still document local vulnerabilities and mitigation actions. "FEMA's policy language and requirements have been changing," Kemp said; he advised the committee to include measures for vulnerable populations and climate effects where relevant while recognizing some federal requirements may be updated.

Committee members and staff discussed specific flood-mitigation items to add or clarify in the draft plan. Greg Halliday described recent field observations and repair priorities, asking the group to prioritize clearing silted culverts on Shaffer, Buchanan and Miller lanes and to consider widening or regrading stream channels upstream of culverts so flows do not overtop roads. "A lot of the problems resulted from culverts being silted up," Halliday said, describing 3-foot culverts that were "half full of dirt" at the inlet and noting that many downstream outlet channels are much larger than their upstream entrances.

The committee endorsed keeping a record of prior accomplishments in the plan update (the plan-update element required for FEMA compliance) and agreed to retain some mitigation items that were removed earlier, documenting why they were redlined. Members described a proposed shift away from pursuing permanent easements toward property owner waivers for some drainage work because waivers can be obtained more quickly, per the committee's attorney.

Committee members also asked staff to add several items to the resources and contacts lists in the draft: Rocky Mountain Power (grid mitigation and public-safety power shutoffs), Emery Telecommunications (broadband/fiber), and the Utah Department of Emergency Management. Staff said they would update organization names (for example, the transcript showed Daystar is now listed as Castle Valley Academy/Chapel Valley Academy) and remove people who no longer hold current positions.

Next steps set by the committee included: incorporating the Rocky Mountain Power enhanced-safety note in the power-infrastructure section; documenting culvert- and streambed actions (clearing, capacity evaluations and potential spot excavation or pockets to hold water); adding an action to pursue coordination with BLM on retention/retardation features above town limits (Upper Placer Creek, Castle Creek and Payne Creek were discussed); and making the required plan-update inventory showing which previous actions were completed, carried forward or removed. Committee members noted the plan draft must be finalized in time for the public-review process and the packet that staff will send for review well before the plan's submission date (committee members said the town-level submission is due in November).

The committee did not take formal votes on these items at this meeting; members focused on redrafting and assigning follow-up work for the next meeting.