- West Jordan widened Fox Hollow Wash to prevent flooding in Bloomfield Heights.
- City crews completed the project in-house for under $100,000, receiving positive feedback.
- Utility engineering manager Dave Murphy emphasized the project's importance in protecting homes.
WEST JORDAN — When storm clouds roll into West Jordan, especially during monsoon season, some neighbors in the Bloomfield Heights subdivision keep a close eye on the Fox Hollow Wash.
During past storms, water flowing in the wash has overflowed its banks and come close to getting into nearby homes.
No homes were flooded, but city leaders said the risk was real enough to act before it became a bigger problem.
"This channel has been full before. We've had 100-year storms in this channel. In fact, quite frankly, beyond the slightly 100-year storm," said Dave Murphy, West Jordan's utility engineering manager. "The flow in the channel is 100 cubic feet per second. That's what it's rated for. That's about 45,000 gallons a minute."
Murphy said sediment buildup and vegetation had narrowed parts of the channel, particularly where it flattens near a road crossing. That created the potential for more water to back up and spill over during heavy storms.
"And we didn't want anything obviously hitting basements," said Murphy. "We've had that challenge before in other areas of the city, and we didn't want that to happen here."
The city evaluated the channel's design slope and capacity, surveyed it from top to bottom, and determined it was slightly too narrow to handle a 100-year storm event.
This past fall, city crews began widening the channel, clearing out vegetation and installing riprap and large rocks to help prevent erosion during high flows.
Murphy said the project was all done in-house without going to an outside firm for help.
"We designed it in-house. We took care of all of the surveying in-house, and we had our own construction crews handled in-house, and the whole cost of the project was less than $100,000," he said.
A mild winter allowed crews to get the work done faster.
After the city shared photos of the completed project on social media, residents responded with positive feedback.
"Awesome job," one commenter wrote.
"It looks great, good job stormwater crew!" another posted.
"This looks a million times better!" a third wrote.
One resident, Katie Dobson, commented that "this area has been a problem and eyesore for years."
Murphy said addressing resident concerns is a priority for the city.
"We don't want citizens out there thinking that we don't care," he said. "We immediately care."
While the Fox Hollow Wash project may not be one of the city's largest infrastructure efforts, Murphy said it plays an important role in protecting nearby homes.
"It's good stuff to get done and get done for the public," he said.
The city is still looking into if another water flow box is needed downstream, and possibly revegetation work may be part of finishing the overall project to help stabilize exposed soil along the banks.
