Part of Salt Lake City’s Wasatch Hollow Preserve is flooded and unusable right now — just like it’s supposed to be.
The area is a flood detention basin that can temporarily fill up with water in order to manage runoff and prevent flooding elsewhere, said Luke Allen, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City’s Public Lands Divisions.
“When we get significant storm events, or in anticipation of high runoff, it’s designed to hold water and then release it more gradually downstream,” Allen said.
After record-breaking snowfall this winter, this marks at least the third time this season that the preserve has seen flooding. “And we anticipate that it will remain flooded for the next few weeks,” Allen said.
While this kind of flooding is not unusual in the preserve, it hasn’t happened much in recent years — and not at all in at least the last three years, Allen said, as the state has been gripped by extreme drought.
On Thursday, the flooding was concentrated along the nature trail that follows Emigration Creek through the lower part of the park. “It’s probably about 100 yards of trail that’s unusable,” Allen said. “Maybe about half an acre.”
The preserve covers about 10 acres. The adjacent, 3-acre Wasatch Hollow Park includes a playground, a grass field, pavilions, drinking fountain, benches and a dog park.
Residents using the park and preserve have been calling the city to report the flooding.
“People are seeing it and, understandably, they’re giving the city a call,” Allen said. “We just want to make sure people know that this is by design.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A portion of Wasatch Hollow Preserve is flooded in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 30, 2023.
That includes a large grate in the flooded area that is covered in limbs and debris, which the system is designed to catch. “To a passerby, it may seem as if the drain is clogged, but that’s not the case,” he said. “It is functioning properly.”
The city is asking people to avoid the flooded area and not let their children or pets play in the water.
“When I was out the other day, it was partially frozen over,” Allen said. “So I just want to make sure people understand not to be walking on it as well. It’s very thin ice down there.”
In the meantime, Allen said the city’s public utilities department is working with Salt Lake County Flood Control to monitor how much water the detention basin is holding and determine how best to gradually release it.
