FEMA: Disaster Recovery Project Seeks to Keep Water Flowing in West Jordan

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 17 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:

FEMA has provided the City of West Jordan $164,908.13 for repairs to a water storage tank. The funds are provided from the agency's Public Assistance program as part of the major disaster declaration issued in 2020 for the Magna earthquake.

Public Assistance reimbursements are made on a cost-sharing basis to counties, municipalities, state, tribes and certain private nonprofit organizations for emergency work and restoration of infrastructure. The federal cost share is no less than 75 percent, with the state and local applicant responsible for remaining costs.

The program generally provides assistance to restore infrastructure to its pre-disaster condition. In this case mitigation funding was provided as it will make the facility more resistant to damage in the future. The project includes replacement of inlet and outlet piping and use of flexible couplings that are more resistant to the shaking of an earthquake.

"This assistance will help to minimize the chance of losing the water supply for West Jordan in the event of a future earthquake," said Utah Division of Emergency Management Director Kris Hamlet.

Another unique element of the project is that the mitigation funding was based on the total cost of the larger repair project. The facility had insurance coverage that paid for the repairs to the facility. FEMA was able to assist with the costs not covered by insurance as well as the cost-effective mitigation effort. The mitigation portion of the project totaled nearly $120,000.

"This is a great example of the partnership that exists in disaster recovery," said FEMA's Federal Coordinating Officer Ken Clark. "The community was proactive in having insurance for the facility, but by the prudent application of mitigation funding we can hopefully avoid making repairs to this structure should another earthquake occur."