Utah National Guard Focuses Efforts On Spring Lake Debris Flow

SPRING LAKE, Utah – The Utah National Guard said the Spring Lake area is now its No. 1 flood mitigation priority.

Since early Wednesday, Utah County public works crews have been working to clear up a muddy debris slide caused by heavy overnight rain on 3620 West off Highline Canal Road.

Guard members began helping with that effort.

While KSL TV hasn’t been alerted to any home damage in the area yet, it was a close call for one resident.

“I had sandbags up here on the corner because that’s where I thought we were going to get it,” said George Brinkerhoff, who woke up to a backyard full of mud. “That’s where we got it last time. We didn’t need them there, we needed them around back.”

“We got a phone call I guess around midnight said you need to get up and get out of there,” he added. “We got up and got dressed and by the time we got out here the mud was already to here and was running down through our field and into our backyard.”

Thankfully, Brinkerhoff said only about a cup of mud made its way inside his home.

“We had a pretty good waterfall,” he said. “Well mudfall down those steps.”

After 38 years living in Spring Lake, he hasn’t experienced anything like this.

“Sixteen years ago we got mud on our front lawn, but not anywhere else,” he said.

While he was worried about more forecasted rain, he didn’t think there was much more he could do.

“If the mud flows again, we’re good,” Brinkerhoff said. “Well, as good as can be. You can see we aren’t very good.”