ST. GEORGE — Thick, muddy flood waters in Springdale and Zion National Park in 2021 are a memory, and officials are more prepared today for future floods.

On June 29, 2021, flash floods forced the closure of Zion National Park at the south and east entrances in Kane County. Also, state Route 9 was closed as intense flooding delivered more than a foot of mud gushing down Zion Park Boulevard from the park entrance to Blondie’s Diner in Springdale.

“It’s an active canyon (Zion Canyon). The forces that created this area are still working,” Rick Wixom, Springdale town manager, said. “That comes from rainfall, earthquake, landslide and high-water events, and all those forces are still at play.”

Over 1.50 inches of rain poured down within an hour that afternoon causing a major flash flood that rushed out of the main gates of the park into Springdale to the west and the Kane County entrance to the east.

The scenic burg is prepared, however, for Mother Nature’s unpredictability. Springdale has erosion hazard protection zones and geologic hazard protection reviews as part of its development.

“You have to try to keep people safe. We watch and pay attention to the FEMA flood plain maps when we look at development,” Wixom said. “People need to be aware it’s an active canyon and developing in an active canyon; there are some risks that go with it.”

Springdale also works with the Association of Governments’ natural hazard mitigation plan that guides their decisions about the potential for flooding. Also, to assist with managing potential flooding, the town has commissioned consulting engineers Rosenberg Associates to develop a plan to restore the functionality of the Blacks Canyon Wash, which experienced significant erosion because of the severe flooding at the Town’s Administrative Center. Blacks Canyon Wash runs north and roughly parallel to Lion Boulevard, north of the Town Hall.

“This one was the most significant flooding I’ve ever seen in terms of local damage; the amount of water, speed of water and boulders’ damage to cars and damage to properties in town,” said Wixom, who as lived in the area for 18 years. He said the 2021 floods were worse than the high-water years of 2005 and 2011.

Meanwhile, the town is working through the process for some federal aid money through the National Resource Conservation Service. After going through the approval process, it had to select an engineering firm. The town is currently establishing a contractor and plans to finish the Blacks Canyon Wash project by the end of the year.

Funds for damage to properties, vehicles and other things came from a combination of the town’s rainy-day funds and insurance payments. Wixom said the city has set aside money for emergencies and will continue to.

“We have money for emergencies. We’re always cautious and aware of things that might happen,” Wixom said. “But we don’t specifically say this money is for flooding and money is for wildfire or this money is for rockslides. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. We recognize that all those things are possibilities. So we try to plan for those things and economic downturns.”

Springdale officials are proud of how the town folk rallied together to clean up after the flooding.

“It was amazing how the community came together to clean up behind the flood,” Mayor Barbara Bruno said. “We had people grabbing shovels, going to town hall and shoveling the mud away from the buildings. At the medical clinic, their shed washed away. And the clinic was also jolted from its foundation, and it wasn’t clear whether it could be restored and reopened.”

Bruno said that with the possible loss of Springdale’s only medical clinic, a group of volunteers worked on cleaning it up for a couple of months. Someone set up a GoFundMe account. The clinic was able to cover the costs of restoring the building and providing lunches for the volunteers.

“We also saw contractors in the area that were there to clean up properties and a lot of people coming together to solve a problem when there was a need,” Bruno said. “We were proud of our community.”

Another inspiration she noted was the positive attitude of the owner of the Zion Campground. Despite having the campground’s office and the owner’s living quarters destroyed just after they had been updated, the owner “made lemonade out of lemons,” Bruno said.

Both the Quality Inn and the Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort, were reported to be a total loss.

“He’s got a pretty good attitude about it, but he lost what was essentially a new building and his living quarters there,” Bruno said.

The other two locations that received significant damage include the Cable Mountain Lodge near the Zion National Park entrance and the ranger booths. The park had recently added some new ranger booths and they were ruined and had to be rebuilt. 

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