This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
BRIGHAM CITY - Farmer Todd Yates is calm now, but he will never forget those panicky predawn hours Sunday, when he tried to save his cows and calves from drowning.
Foxes and skunks were darting everywhere, scrambling to find their way back to dens that had been submerged by the Bear River's floodwaters. Deer raced ahead of the rising water, and ducks, geese, avocets and shorebirds raised a cacophony.
Their nests, filled with eggs, floated by Yates as he waded through thigh- and chest-high water to reach the 68 head of cattle he had left on the river's south side.
He wanted to coax them to higher ground but, for many, it was too late. In the dark, he watched several cows and calves slip under the water. He figures he lost 20 or 30 when the river, fed by heavy rainfall in northern Utah, flooded lowlands for miles around.
"It was like a tsunami," Yates said Monday, his alarm having turned to anger.
He is perturbed that he didn't know Utah Power had been releasing high volumes of water into the Bear River at Cutler Dam since Thursday. And he's irate that the county did not heed landowners' pleas years ago for more and bigger culverts on a major dike over the lowlands.
"Why didn't they come and tell us?" asked Yates, who lives in Cache Valley and travels to the farm each day. "They're blowing this off."
Utah Power spokesman Dave Eskelsen said the National Weather Service has been issuing warnings since Friday about the potential for flooding below Cutler Dam, which is near the the boundary of Box Elder and Cache counties.
A week ago, Utah Power was releasing 3,000 to 4,000 cubic feet per second from the dam. The utility ramped up that amount to 6,800 cubic feet by Friday after heavy rains overwhelmed the already-swollen reservoir.
The releases peaked at 8,840 cubic feet from the dam Saturday morning. The Box Elder County Sheriff's Office was notified.
"It was no secret there were flooding conditions," Eskelsen said. "I don't know what more the company could have done."
A federal license restricts Utah Power from holding much more water at Cutler Reservoir. Besides, he added, the water will spill over the top if it isn't released.
Box Elder sheriff's spokesman Lynn Yeates said Monday that people who live along the banks below Cutler Dam were notified, but the county was unable to contact owners of every parcel downstream.
Yates' 750-acre farm is east of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, and the dike - which doubles as the lone public road to the refuge - acted somewhat like a dam during the soggy weekend.
When the Bear River swamped its banks, the water spread for miles and backed up against the dike, which is drained by three small culverts.
Using a backhoe, Yates breached the dike Sunday afternoon to help drain the water, leaving behind a 12-foot-wide and 12-foot-deep channel.
He had tried for hours to reach county road crews, and finally got permission from Box Elder County Commissioner Scott Hansen to punch through the dike.
With the breach, however, went the only public road leading to the refuge, which draws hundreds of visitors a day.
Refuge manager Al Trout didn't want to comment on Yates' action, but said the refuge is doing what it can to siphon water from the river, funneling it past the refuge and into the Great Salt Lake's Bear River Bay.
All but about 40 acres of Yates' land is underwater. Thousands more acres along the Bear River also are submerged. Most of it is pastureland, but some is cropland.
Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, said he has four sections - more than 2,500 acres - of rangeland underwater. He lost no cattle, but will have to find other grazing sites this summer for 500 head.
Vickie Christensen, whose family has a farm near Yates', said her family's hay balers, camp trailer and boat motors are underwater.
But it's all the lost birds - the eggs that had not yet hatched and the baby ducks and geese - that she laments. "It breaks my heart. I just want to cry."
Dorothy Rodriguez watched warily Monday as water from the Bear River, nearly three miles away, crept closer to her yard. On the road, she counted 23 snakes that had sought refuge from the deluge.
Her house is about 15 feet higher than the edge of the lawn, but if the water rises much more, she will have to put up sandbags.
"I'm going to have to really watch," she said.
Good idea, Eskelsen said.
With cool temperatures delaying the mountain snowmelt and rains raising the river levels, he warned, heightened water releases from Cutler Dam are likely throughout the spring.
Threat of flooding
State officials met Monday with officials from Washington, Iron and Garfield counties about potential flooding in southwestern Utah.
Top item of concern: the record snowpack in the mountains and securing the $66 million Congress is expected to release for flood preparation and mitigation work.
More than $200 million in damage occurred in January when the Virgin and Santa Clara rivers overflowed.
Washington County Commissioner James Eardley said the Virgin River poses the biggest threat this time, but added the work needed to prep the waterway for the high runoff anticipated this month can only be done if the federal funds are released.
- Mark Havnes