Built in the mid-1930s, Hyrum Dam is located on the Little Bear River in northern Utah and provides water storage for irrigation and municipal use. Construction of a new spillway is scheduled to start later this year. The existing 90-year-old spillway is located left of the earth-filled dam. Reclamation photo
SALT LAKE CITY — The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the award of a $115,900,000 contract to AMES Federal Contracting Group of Burnsville, Minnesota, for the construction of a new spillway at Hyrum Dam. Hyrum Dam was built on the Little Bear River in northern Utah in 1935 and impounds Hyrum Reservoir, which provides water storage for irrigation and municipal use.
In addition to continued repairs and modifications over the years, operators have done their best to minimize the amount of water released through the spillway. When spillway releases reached high volumes in recent years, Reclamation performed around-the-clock monitoring to assess risks of spillway failure and staged heavy equipment and riprap material near the spillway in case immediate action was needed.
“The spillway at Hyrum Dam is used every year to release excess water downstream, and though continuous maintenance has occurred on the spillway since its construction, the 90-year-old structure is in need of replacement,” said Reclamation Upper Colorado Basin Regional Director Wayne Pullan.
Crews are replacing the dam’s original 24-inch outlet works piping with larger, 36-inch piping, which will quadruple the outlet’s discharge capacity from 50 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 200 cfs.
“Working with our project partners, Reclamation will continue to take every precaution at Hyrum Dam,” said Provo Area Office Manager Rick Baxter. “That includes our current work to expand the size of the dam’s outlet works so more water can be conveyed through the outlet and alleviate additional stress on the existing spillway until a new one is built.”
The South Cache Water Users Association is responsible for operating and maintaining the dam. This construction contract is a result of many years of hard work by Reclamation and project partners.
Reclamation issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the "Hyrum Spillway Replacement Project Environmental Assessment” in January 2024.
