At the current rate, it will take about 117 years for Utah to repair every dam in the state that needs some kind of rehabilitation. And that’s likely a conservative estimate.
There are currently 227 “high hazard” dams in the state, which means if they fail, it would cause severe damage and loss of life. Of those, 107 are in need of some kind of rehabilitation based on the state’s criteria, which looks at a dam’s spillway, outlet, whether there’s seepage, how stable the slope is, and whether it can withstand seismic activity.
The Utah Division of Water Resources, which oversees funding for dam upgrades, has secured the money and contracted repairs for six of the 107 at-risk dams.
That leaves 101 dams still in need of some kind of rehabilitation — currently the legislature is giving about $3.8 million each year to the division for repairs.
“If we look at the 101 dams that need to be upgraded and the $3.8 million ongoing, we estimated it will take 117 years to address all the dams on the list,” Utah Division of Water Resources Director Candice Hasenyager told lawmakers Tuesday during a Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee meeting.
Hasenyager cautioned the estimate comes with an asterisk. In the next 117 years, some of the dams around the state that currently pass Utah’s minimum safety standards will deteriorate. Plus, there will likely be what she calls “hazard creep,” where communities encroach on dams, making them high hazard based on the state’s metrics.
“That’s another question and concern as we become more populated,” Hasenyager said.
The presentation came on the heels of two instances where high-hazard dams showed their age.
In April, the Panguitch Lake Dam showed signs of seepage, with cracks later appearing near the top, likely the result of ice pushing up against the concrete. The roughly 1,700 residents of Panguitch were put on notice to prepare for evacuation, but crews were able to break the ice away and stabilize the dam. It was operable through spring runoff season, but there’s currently a storage restriction on the reservoir to ease the burden on the dam.
Replacing the dam, or at least making the major repairs that it needs, could cost around $5 million, said Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, telling lawmakers during the meeting that funding should be a priority.
The division is also monitoring the dam at the Kolob Reservoir, where earlier this year water began seeping through damaged concrete in the spillway. Reservoir levels were drawn down and the Washington County Water Conservancy District operated the dam through the runoff season. But they’re eyeing major repairs, including replacing the spillway.
According to the division, the average cost to upgrade one dam is around $4.4 million, so to rehabilitate those 101 dams, the division needs $444 million. But that estimate again comes with an asterisk — with inflation hitting the price of construction materials, those costs “will likely go up in the future,” said Hasenyager.
For most of the 2000s, the state was funneling about $4.3 million each year for dam repairs, decreasing slightly to $3.8 million after 2008.
That doesn’t include one-time funding measures — in 2015, lawmakers allocated $11 million; $8.4 million in 2017; $18 million in 2022; and $25 million in 2024.
Still, the division is looking elsewhere for immediate funds. Hasenyager said it recently secured a $7.2 million grant from FEMA, plus the National Resource Conservation Service, or NRCS, will chip in up to 65% for repairs on dams it operates.
