
Salt Lake City (March 18, 2020) – The epicenter of this morning’s northern Utah 5.7 magnitude (M) earthquake was north of Magna. As of 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, there had been 90 aftershocks. Additional aftershocks are expected at least over the next few days.

Updated March 25, 2020
During these unprecedented times, the health and safety of our staff and customers is most important. To comply with the Coronavirus Community Task Force’s recommendation to social distance, the majority of our agency staff is teleworking.

SALT LAKE CITY (Feb. 13, 2020) – Gov. Gary R. Herbert has appointed Teresa Wilhelmsen, P.E., as state engineer and director of the Utah Division of Water Rights. Wilhelmsen has worked for the division for the past 23 years and currently serves as assistant state engineer.

The Utah Geological Survey recently published a geologic map that includes new strands and increased accuracy of the southern parts of the West Valley fault zone, in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley. Previous geologic maps of the area either showed the fault zone in less detail than the new map, or did not show the fault zone at all.

Todd D. Adams has been appointed to head the Utah Division of Water Resources. Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Brian Steed selected Adams to replace Eric Millis who retired after nearly 32 years with the division, six of those as the director.

After serving as director of the Utah Division of Water Resources for the past six years, Eric Millis will retire from public service Dec. 16. Millis has spent nearly 32 years with the division working on a variety of projects that support the division’s mission to “plan, conserve, develop and protect Utah’s water resources.”

The latest study regarding the Bear River Development (BRD) project has been released by the Utah Division of Water Resources and includes 13 potential reservoir combinations and pipeline alignments, as well as updated costs.

The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining’s (OGM) Oil and Gas Program recently underwent a legislative audit completed by the Office of the Legislative Auditor General. Audit results, as well as the division’s response, are available at OGM.Utah.Gov/Audit.

Urban and residential development in Ogden Valley prompted Utah Geological Survey (UGS) to study the quantity and quality of Ogden Valley’s surface water and groundwater.

Kent L. Jones, P.E., the current state engineer and director of the Utah Division of Water Rights, has announced that he will retire from public service Nov. 16. Jones has spent almost 39 years with the division.