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Utah House honors Riverdale flood responders; mayor urges more inspections of state canals
Summary
The Utah House read a formal commendation for Riverdale and heard Mayor Ben Jones describe the July 11, 1999 canal breach that sent an estimated 63 acre-feet of water and 350,000 cubic yards of mud into the city. Jones urged lawmakers to fund the state engineer’s office for canal inspections.
The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 18 read a concurring commendation honoring Riverdale and the volunteers who responded after a July 11, 1999 breach of the Davis and Weber Counties Canal.
Mayor Ben Jones described the damage and response in a short presentation and accompanying video. He said the canal initially carried about 250 cubic feet per second and flowed for roughly 5½ hours, delivering what the city estimated as 63 acre-feet of water and roughly 350,000 cubic yards of mud into neighborhoods. Jones said about 120 homes sustained substantial water and mud damage and that volunteers and public-safety personnel helped prevent any loss of life.
"We ended up with an estimated 63 acre feet of water that came into our community," Jones said, and described volunteers and agencies that joined the cleanup. He specifically praised Riverdale Public Safety and the coordinated volunteer effort, including local church stakes, which organized quickly to help affected homes.
As the House recognized the city, the official citation read into the record repeated the same estimates, placed property and economic losses "in excess of $120,000,000," and noted that more than 20,000 volunteers and 100,000 man-hours were documented during the two-week cleanup.
Closing his remarks, Jones urged lawmakers to strengthen inspection resources for statewide canal infrastructure: "I would encourage the legislature to ensure that the state engineer's office has the resources to make sure that they can conduct adequate inspections and assessments of these canals throughout the state of Utah so that we can make sure they're safe." The House presented the citation to the Riverdale delegation and later dissolved the Committee of the Whole to resume regular business.
The recognition required no legislative action; it was a ceremonial commendation acknowledging the city, public-safety teams and the volunteer response and recording the mayor’s request for stronger canal oversight.
