Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
Engineering Services for Marysvale Town
September 11, 2024

Marysvale Town, Utah is seeking qualifications from experienced engineering firms with a minimum of ten (10) years of experience with prior involvement and specialization in watershed protection, streambank and shoreline protection, clearing and snagging, development of water and sediment control basin structures, long-term channeling of water, development of water control devices for flood control, and to otherwise provide expert services and technical assistance for a pending project located in Piute County, Utah.

The Marysvale Community Wildfire Council met for the first time on 8/29/24.

22 people attended to discuss how to increase Marysvale's preparedness to deal with possible wildfire.  Education, Defensible Space, reaching out to the kids of the community so they learn about wildfire, and other issues were all discussed.  We were joined by people from Kingston and Circleville who were interested in the CWC.

Everyone is invited to participate in the next meeting on Sept 18 at 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm at the Marysvale Community Center where the participants and the council will hear further about re-seeding the burn area, and begin to work on selecting the best projects for the community. 

Utah Forest, Fire  and State Lands will  moderate the meeting and wishes to encourage everyone to attend to give their opinion on the best way to mitigate wildfire risk in Marysvale.  The FFSL is looking to work with Marysvale and can provide help from the 6 county $4 million dollar grant that they have received to work with South Central Utah communities to reduce the risk of wildfire to life and property.  The projects could include Wildfire Risk Assessments, Education and Outreach, writing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, Funding Resource Allocation, Emergency Preparedness, Implementation of Mitigation Measures.

For more information on the CWC call Thomas Peterson, FFSL Acting Area Manager, 435-201-7601 to learn more about the CWC.

Marysvale will have a Community Flood Mitigation Meeting on Wedneday, Aug 28 at 7 pm at the Marysvale Community Center, 215 E 100 N in Marysvale.  

Kelly Crane from Ensign and Jason Dodds from NRCS will be featured.  We will review the flood and debris flow maps, discuss the reports from USACE, BAER, USDA/NRCS, and discuss updates on the dangers of landslides and flooding in Beaver and Bullion.  We'll talk about the multiple flood warnings, flood watches, and Code Red evacuation calls we have seen with just 2/10 inch of rain.

Owners of property on Bullion and Beaver Creek will receive a letter describing how they can assist the town in reducing flood and debris flow damage.  See letter below:  

Marysvale Flood Notifications - Flash Flood Watch vs Warning                                             

All residents and visitors should be prepared to evacuate if it appears that flooding will occur in Bullion Creek, Rainbow Creek, Beaver Creek or Deer Creek.  Any or all of these creeks may flood from monsoonal microbursts, and if they do flood they may put a wall of debris from that could be 1-8 feet high on roads and Highway 89.

It is impossible for the National Weather Service to predict exactly where or how much rain will come down, and where the debris flow may block and back up water behind the bridge or irrigation diversion, causing the creek to come out of its banks.  The NFS and the Piute Sheriff’s Office will work together prior to & during the flood to determine appropriate actions.

1^st Notification:  If widespread storms look likely the  meteorologists at the National Weather Service will put out a   FLASH FLOOD WATCH for PIUTE COUNTY.  This will be carried on TV, radio, and on smartphone weather aps like Accu-Weather, Weather Bug, National Weather Service.  A FLOOD WATCH means that there may be flooding in Piute sometime in the next 4-24 hours.  Get anything you need to evacuate ready.  Marysvale is now in substantially greater flood danger from far less rain due to the burn scars from the Silver King Fire.

The NWS is carefully watching any storms as they move locally through Marysvale’s mountains.  NWS meteorologists will let the Piute Sheriff’s Office if rain might be close to causing flooding.

Information on Flood Maps from the Town of Marysvale:

The linked maps were prepared from data from Silver King Fire Burned Area Response Team by the US Army Corp of Engineers to inform Marysvale Town.  These maps depict the probability of debris flow, volume of debris flow, and combined debris flow hazard in response to a peak 15-minute rainfall intensity of 32mm/hour.  This rainfall intensity is equivalent to the to the accumulation of 0.32” of rain in 15 minutes during a high intensity thunderstorm. This rainfall event has a 1-year recurrence interval for the middle of the burned area, meaning it is a very likely event that has a 100% probability of occurring on any given year.  

Areas outside the mapped flooding areas may still be at risk of flooding during this or other events.

Be sure to see the "Will Marysvale Flood" announcement below these maps, and explore how flooding may impact downtown Marysvale, and how you can prepare and protect yourself and your family.

Town History

In 1869, two prospectors found waterfalls (including the world famous Bullion Creek Falls which our logo comes from), gold and the mysterious remains of an old arrastra (possibly Spanish in origin) and the Bullion Canyon gold rush began. Marysvale was also at the end of the historic Denver and Rio Grand Railroad making Marysvale both a railroad and gold mining town. Farming and ranching have been important to the community for over 100 years.