Utah
Some southern Utah reservoirs at concerning water levels
SALT LAKE CITY — An agency measuring snowpack and water levels across the state says we’re either above or well below average — depending on where you look.
“It’s not been one of our better years,” said Jordan Clayton from the Utah Snow Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “Statewide, we’re at about 85 percent of normal. Our organization measures the snowpack throughout the state of Utah and really throughout the West, making water predictions from that snowpack.”
He provided a map with the percent of average each region is right now. In the north it looks good, but in the southwestern part of the state, they’re seeing critically low levels.
“The Bear River Basin, for example, is above normal for this time of year, whereas southwestern Utah is setting records for how low its snowpack is for this time. The Gunnison area and the Sanpitch, which drains into that area, is about 79 percent of normal snowpack,” Clayton said.
Zach Jensen, the president of the Gunnison Irrigation Company, told FOX 13 News that the Gunnison Reservoir right now is at about a third of its capacity. He says they’re hoping for more precipitation in the next several weeks and a few good storms and what he called “low snow” to help fill the gap, but said overall they’re in pretty good shape thanks to two good water years back-to-back and about 25 percent of the water in storage.
“The Gunnison Reservoir sent us unfortunate pictures of cattle grazing the bottom of the reservoir when it was dry. We’re very encouraged by the replenishment of water into that reservoir system,” Clayton added.
FOX 13 News was there with SkyFox looking at the barren reservoir from above when the Gunnison Reservoir ran dry after a very dry year.
“We’re actually further along in filling up our reservoir system than other western states, and the reason why is we’re on the heels of two above normal snowpack years in a row, and that’s really boosted the reservoir system in the state,” said Clayton.
Utah gets 95 percent of its water — used for municipal and agricultural purposes — from its snowpack.
“Overall we’re about 75 percent of the way to our typical peak snow water equivalent, or our peak snowpack, and we have about a month to go, so let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope we get all the way there,” Clayton said.
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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