Wasatch County Health director highlights community programs and water monitoring in annual report to Daniel council

Jonelle Fitzgerald, director of the Wasatch County Health Department, presented the department's 2025 annual report to the Daniel Town Council on May 4, describing the department's programs, funding mix, and priority indicators.

Fitzgerald told council members the health department provides administration (vital records), emergency preparedness, an environmental-health program (septic, lodging, food service, water quality), epidemiology for communicable-disease tracking, and clinical nursing services including immunizations and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) nutrition education. "We are your health department no matter where you live within Wasatch County," Fitzgerald said, inviting local feedback on community health needs.

Fitzgerald said more than half of the department's funding comes from state and federal grants, 28% from a county mill levy, and fees about 18%; she reported total annual expenditures "just over $4,000,000." Key local health indicators highlighted included an adult obesity rate near 23% and 18.1% of adults reporting depression; life expectancy in the county was reported at 82 years.

Council members asked how the department addresses multiple families living in homes served by small septic systems. Fitzgerald said state law limits regulation based on the number of people, because ordinances and septic approvals are tied to the number of bedrooms; the department intervenes on clear public-health triggers such as failing or overflowing septic systems. She described expanded water-quality monitoring: the department has added nested transect wells (near Timber Lakes and Charleston) to sample surface-to-aquifer conditions and track total dissolved solids and other indicators in response to regional development and mining concerns.

Fitzgerald offered to have staff present more technical details at a future meeting. The council followed with questions about specific monitoring locations and enforcement authorities; Fitzgerald said the department will follow up with more information to the town.

Next steps: staff follow-up and possible technical presentation from the health department's water-study team.