The Times-Independent

County tacks on stormwater project to Spanish Valley path

After 2022 floods, staff starting to update decade-old stormwater priorities


The Grand County Commission opted to bundle a stormwater drainage project into the construction of a multiuse path down Spanish Valley Drive after seeing videos of serious flooding from several of last year’s storms by the new Arroyo Crossing development.

Parts of Spanish Valley Drive by Arroyo Crossing were inundated during the Aug. 20 flood. Image captured from video by Adrea Lund

“Last year’s storms have shown us that we have some conveyance problems — stormwater coming off Arroyo Crossing, breaching their infrastructure and then crossing … Spanish Valley Drive and impacting some properties north,” said Strategic Development Director Chris Baird.

Videos shown by David Riddle of Jones & DeMille Engineering display water streaming from the northeast corner of Arroyo Crossing, running down Spanish Valley Drive to cross properties on its east side and eventually channel into Pack Creek.

The project would deepen a drainage ditch and add grates and a 24-inch pipe into the berm between the multiuse path and Spanish Valley Drive. The pipe would run about a half-mile from Nighthawk Lane to the road’s northern intersection with Pack Creek, into which stormwater would drain.

With the path about 30% designed, Baird said the commission needs to greenlight the stormwater addition now so Jones & DeMille can incorporate it into the path’s plans.

Though the stormwater project and path will be designed and go out to bid together, they must be funded separately. While the $2.7 million multiuse path is being funded by the Utah Department of Transportation, the stormwater infrastructure bill must be paid either by Grand County or the Community Impact Board.

The county has sufficient funds in its capital accounts to cover the possible $860,000 price tag, Baird said. He said it would be “considerably” cheaper to build the infrastructure concurrent with the multiuse path rather than after the path’s construction.

“It’s an opportunity to resolve the issue,” Baird said.

Commissioner Bill Winfield questioned the proposed project’s sufficiency, suggesting the county ought to consider additional infrastructure on the east side of Spanish Valley Drive.

“I’m not sure that just a gutter down the bike path side is sufficient, and that we ought to be considering possibly a berm on the other side of the road for those people,” he said.

Riddle countered that a berm on the road’s east side could exacerbate flooding for lower neighbors, but said the project could also include a short pipe from Arroyo Crossing’s northeast corner into an existing natural drainage southeast across Spanish Valley Drive.

Winfield also stressed that the project ought to include collaboration from Arroyo Crossing, which Baird said he’s pursuing.

“I’m not entirely sure if all phases of stormwater infrastructure have been installed yet … that could be part of the problem,” Baird said.

Kaitlin Myers, executive director of the Moab Area Community Land Trust, which manages Arroyo Crossing’s development, said she’s aware of the flooding issues.

“I’m glad the county is moving forward with addressing the stormwater issue at Arroyo Crossing, because it was a big concern for us and heavily impacted some of our neighbors,” she said.

Besides causing “significant” property damage in Baird’s words, the flooding also presents a risk of hydroplaning for drivers, Riddle said.

The commission unanimously opted to move forward with the project, with Commission Vice Chair Kevin Walker adding that he found it high time for an overhaul of the county’s decade-old stormwater priority list.

In arguing for a re-prioritization, which Baird said staff have begun, Walker pointed to the county’s recent multimillion-dollar Jackson Street project that shored up a drainage that only infrequently floods.

“On the other hand … we’ve got things that just flood in … normal thunderstorms, and it’s happening every single time,” Walker said. “And so, I’m hoping that we can review the prioritization of our flood water projects to prioritize some of these things close to people’s houses that flood frequently, where we’ll see the good effects of this immediately.”