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Show x '- .'- " s i . ; - ... ' - ' 1 ". '..' , -- i - : ' - . . - r-. - ' f , ., ,j ' , - i 1 " r . '- ; ' . - ' j r ' " . r. ' .r ' -v.- . ;; 'V''; v-;:- '..,;...'- " A FLASH FLOOD created a big wash in Wagon Hound Canyon about six miles south of Bonanza two weeks ago. Nonetheless, work continues on a highway, top right, leading to the White River Shale Oil Corp. lease tracts. A BLM Watershed specialist said little could be done to prevent flooding with rains of the intensity that were dumped into the canyon. Soil conditions key to flash floods Soil conditions contribute a great deal to flash flooding, though flooding was inevitable with the heavy rains that struct Wagon Hound Canyon near Bonanza Aug. 11, according to a Bureau 1 of Land Management specialist. "With a storm that dumps water with that intensity, you have a large amount of run-off," said Keith Chapman, a soil and watershed specialist. "That occurrance out there is a natural re-occurring condition. Generally speaking, the majority of soils are shallow, with quite a bit of rock out-cropping on the surface," said Chapman. It's a desert climate. The vegetation is relatively sparse. There's quite a bit of bare ground even with top management a significant amount of surface area." The flood went down the canyon into the White River interrupting building of a highway and a bridge across the river. Two workers were injured, though not seriously, but an estimated $1 million damage was caused to equipment, equip-ment, according to the Uintah County Sheriff's office. "You get an extremely high run-off," said Chapman. "Even for someone who hasn't seen it, it's amazing the amount of water that can be produced in a short period of time. This is not unusual. It's something we live with. Under the best of circumstances, we get flooding frequently," fre-quently," Chapman continued. "My job in particular is to see what we can do to protect the environment." Chapman said development leaves an area more susceptible to flooding, though companies have become more aware of the problem. He said about 100 small erosion control con-trol dams have been built in the Clay Basin along the Utah-Wyoming border, where a Mountain Fuel Supply Co. storage facility is located. "We're planning plan-ning to go into the Bookcliffs to put some in the next year," Chapman said. Flash flooding depends on the slope of the soil, the area of rainfall and the intensity in-tensity of the rain, said Chapman. "We can take an inch of moisture over a two-day two-day period and you wouldn't get an extremely ex-tremely large amount of run-off." Land use is an important factor in the condition of the soil, he said. And in the Vernal BLM district, the predominant use is cattle grazine rw grazing if nanK lands, generally, are in creaseTtt creases the erosion. Then vl deposits of siltaswella lr'-downstream lr'-downstream water," Chapml2;' "One of the things hav. area is the placement of a id on the surface. This helps Z soil. "The shale oil busint have shallow soil, less than a |
