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Preston Bench Project
State: Idaho
Region: Upper Colorado Basin Region
Related Documents
Preston Bench Project History (39 KB)
Related Facilities
Related Links
Mountain Snowpack Maps for Colorado, Rio Grande, and Arkansas Rivers
Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region Water Operations
Palmer Drought Index Map
Explanation of the Palmer Drought Index
General
The Preston Bench Project, located in southeastern Idaho near the town of Preston, includes Mink Creek Canal which supplies irrigation water for 5,000 acres of highly developed land in the vicinity of Preston.
History
The first settlement of Preston Bench was established in 1866 near the present site of Preston, Idaho, which was founded in 1877. Wherever settlement occurred in the area, irrigation was practiced to some degree. Early development of irrigation measures on Preston Bench was started with the construction and completion of a canal from Mink Creek in 1889. During the winter of 1919-1920, a landslide on the Bear River Bluff demolished 850 feet of the canal. A new section was constructed around the slide area and lined with concrete in the spring of 1920. During the following winter, the new concrete canal section was demolished by another slide. Other catastrophes caused by the unstable terrain in the Bear River Bluff area occurred in 1921, 1922, 1926, 1935 (when a tunnel caved in), 1936, 1937, 1941, and 1943, with evidence of other slides appearing during 1946 and 1947.
Construction
Construction began in October 1948 and was completed on November 23, 1949, when water first flowed through the entire length of Mink Creek Canal and through the Station Creek Tunnel. The project was placed in regular service in May 1950. Principal crops produced are alfalfa, wheat, barley, oats, and pasture. Preston is the town which benefits most from the project farms. The Preston Bench Project does not number among Reclamation`s most well-known projects. A small project with few significant features outside of an irrigation canal, the privately constructed portions of the project date back to the late nineteenth century, a situation not entirely unheard of on a Reclamation project but still rather rare. The local water users requested Reclamation`s assistance when repair costs on the canal exceeded the scope of the project. Reclamation stepped in to make the necessary repairs, salvaging the project. Though Reclamation`s impact did not extend much further than the immediate vicinity of the project, the water users realize the importance of the project to the local economy. Based on carbon dating of numerous archeological finds scientists believe that habitation of southern Idaho dates back at least 14,000 years. Largely nomadic, these early Idaho visitors hunted big-game animals, including elephants, bison, and camels, most of which later became extinct. For the most part these early people lacked domestic animals, horticulture, or permanent villages, they subsisted off of the land by harvesting available plant and animal resources. Archeologists believe that these early bands remained small, comprised of extended nuclear families. Little evidence remains of these earliest nomadic tribes. The minimal surviving evidence of their use of the natural resources of the region remains in sporadic sites throughout the area. Archaeologist speculate that one of the most well known of Idaho`s native inhabitants, the Shoshone, arrived, or at least traveled through the region, beginning as early as the fifteenth century, however they lack sufficient evidence to substantiate their hypothesis. Substantiated evidence traces their presence to the early nineteenth century. The largest surge of Shoshone occupation occurred in the late eighteenth century when the Blackfoot tribe, armed and newly horse-mounted, drove them from the High Plains.(2) Historians and archaeologists estimate that the European colonization of the Americas impacted the Shoshone long before either group knew of the others existence. Researchers estimate that the horse reached the Shoshone in the late seventeenth century, filtering northward from the Spanish settlements in the southwest along the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. With the aid of their new mounts the Shoshone spread beyond the Rockies into Montana and as far north as Canada in search of buffalo. The equestrian period also saw the splitting off and migration southward of other Shoshone who became known as the Comanche. Newly mounted populations throughout the West fought for hunting territories and horses as Anglo settlers moving westward caused turmoil throughout the plains. The introduction of both British and American fur trappers and traders in the nineteenth century only seemed to exacerbate the situation. In 1807, the North West Company founded a trading post at the junction of the Big Horn and Yellowstone rivers. Not to be outdone, David Thompson, a British trader, established a post on Pend Oreille Lake in northern Idaho in 1809. Other British and American posts followed with some regularity for the next few years. By 1818, the North West Company and Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson`s Bay Company concentrated their efforts in the Snake River drainage, exploiting the natural resources found there. The Rocky Mountain Fur Company followed in 1823. Though these new residents disrupted the native life, both human and animal, and destroyed the beaver, the more literate of them left behind journals which became the major sources of information on the native inhabitants. The Shoshone traded extensively with the Anglos at the annual summer rendezvous which took place throughout the region, including at Pierre`s Hole in southeast Idaho, however they did not engage in the fur trade to the extent that some of their Canadian counterparts did. The fur trade collapsed by roughly 1840, with the beaver hunted out of the region and a declining fashion for beaver hats. During the same period, the fur trappers and native Americans hunted out the remaining buffalo herds west of the Continental Divide, by 1840 the herds disappeared from the Green and Snake River areas. Just as the fur trade ended, the Westward migration to Oregon and California began. The Oregon Trail went over South Pass, Wyoming, passed through or just north of Fort Bridger, ascended the Bear River to Soda Springs, Idaho, and then turned west along the Snake and Boise rivers. By 1850, what started as sporadic migration became relentless. For the most part, the Shoshone spent the summer emigration season scattered in hunting activities and rarely encountered the travelers.(3) Anglo settlement of the Preston Bench area began as early as 1860 when members of the Mormon faith moved to Franklin, Idaho, with their families. An outgrowth of the initial colonization of Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1847, these early settlers moved outward onto the varied valleys of Utah and adjoining states, including Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona. These early Idaho residents moved away from Salt Lake City in an effort to expand the territory of Deseret and find land more suitable for agriculture. Most of these settlements required construction of forts for protection. Settlement of Preston, Idaho, the nearest town to the project, began in 1877, though settlement of the project area started as early as 1866. Diary accounts tell of locating these early settlements at the base of mountain canyons or along streams allowing for diversion of water to irrigate farm lands, pastures, and gardens. In 1889, the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company developed the first large scale irrigation project on the Preston Bench. Organized in the late 1880s to construct a canal bringing water from Mink Creek to irrigate lands in the Riverdale area and on Preston Bench, the canal company constructed the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal from 1889 to 1899. This original canal ran along the Bear River Bluffs, turning southward onto the Preston Bench. Thirty years later, during the winter of 1919-1920, a landslide destroyed about 850 feet of the canal necessitating repairs. Hoping to prevent further destruction, the canal company constructed a new section of the canal around the slide area and lined it with concrete. Unfortunately, another slide in the winter of 1920, demolished the new concrete section. The unstable soil conditions of the Bear River Bluffs caused additional catastrophes in 1921, 1922, 1926, 1935 (when a tunnel caved in), 1936, 1937, 1941, and 1943, with evidence of an impending slide in 1946 and 1947. The repeated slides resulted in high repairs costs for the canal company leaving it on the verge of bankruptcy and unable to restore the canal for operation, leaving water users without irrigation water for the upcoming seasons. As a result, the canal company requested Reclamation's assistance to repair the structure. Due to the severity of the situation Reclamation proceeded without delay to investigate the situation and issue a report on their findings.(4) Due to the imminent loss of water supply to the irrigators on Preston Bench, Reclamation undertook an investigation of the area and issued a report recommending construction of a new canal and tunnel through different terrain. Based on Reclamation`s report Congress authorized construction of the Preston Bench Project in the act of June 15, 1948. The Preston Bench Project consists of the fifteen-mile long Mink Creek Canal and the 1,125-foot Station Creek Tunnel. With a diversion capacity of thirty-six cubic feet per second (cfs), the canal extends from Mink Creek, nine miles above its confluence with the Bear River, southward to Worm Creek northeast of Preston. A concrete-lined six and one-half foot horseshoe tunnel, the Station Creek Tunnel pierces a prominent divide between Station Creek and Worm Creek. Project water travels from Mink Creek through the Mink Creek Canal and the Station Creek Tunnel to Worm Creek. From Worm Creek water is diverted into privately built laterals and conveyed to project lands.(5) Reclamation constructed the Mink Creek Canal to replace the fifty-year old privately constructed Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal which supplied irrigation water to 4,050 acres of highly developed land in the vicinity of Preston, Idaho. The old canal diverted from Mink Creek, a tributary of the Bear River, and extended roughly twenty-two miles along steep terrain before emerging onto the smooth bench lands it served. The last three-miles of the canal traversed the Bear River Bluffs, north of Preston, where recurrent land slides destroyed several sections of the canal. By 1946, the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company, a mutual irrigation organization that owned and operated the old canal, fell deeply into debt making expensive repairs. They lost hope of maintaining water supply and as a result the irrigators associated with the company faced financial disaster.(6) Reclamation began surveys for construction of the new Mink Creek Canal in July of 1948. At the end of August, Reclamation issued the specifications and invitations for bids on the first portion of the project, an open-cut excavation and a twelve-foot long tunnel at the inlet portal of the Station Creek Tunnel. This excavation exposed the rock in the tunnel zone allowing prospective bidders to examine the rock prior to bid. Reclamation awarded the contract to Ross W. Telford of Preston, Idaho, on September 11, 1948. Telford began work on September 17, 1948. In addition to the open-cut excavation, the contractor excavated a ditch along the upper side of the waste material created by the tunnel, to provide for drainage of the run-off which originated on the adjacent hillside. The contractor also constructed a roadway along the west side of the portal cut to replace an old road partially in the excavated area. Telford completed all work on the contract October 1, 1948.(7) Reclamation issued specifications and invitations to bid for construction of the Station Creek Tunnel and the Mink Creek Canal on September 3, and 13, 1948, respectively. To expedite construction and lower bids, Reclamation divided work on the Mink Creek Canal into three separate sections and contract schedules, each about five miles long. Section-one extended from Mink Creek to Birch Creek, section-two from Birch Creek to Bear Creek, and section-three from Bear Creek to the Station Creek Tunnel. Reclamation awarded the contract for construction of the Station Creek Tunnel to Thatcher Construction Company of Ogden, Utah, on October 12, 1948. The contractor began work on October 14, 1948, continuing the open-cut excavation began by Ross Telford. During excavation the construction company opened a small spring near the inlet portal and near the tunnel grade. Most of the work on the inlet portal was completed by mid-December 1948 and the contractor began excavation of the tunnel on December 15. On January 30, 1949, the construction company began excavation of the tunnel from the outlet end. The tunnel was holed through on March 14, 1949. After completion of the tunnel excavation the contractor began lining it with concrete. After finishing concrete operations the construction company installed a concrete outlet drain 400-feet long and six-inches in diameter leading from the tunnel to Worm Creek. In addition, the contractor installed weep pipes in the inlet portal to prevent any accumulation of water from the small spring discovered during excavation. Thatcher Construction Company satisfactorily completed all work under the contract on July 9, 1949.(8) Work on the Mink Creek Canal began October 11, 1948, when Reclamation awarded the contract for construction of the first section of the canal to Leland Knudson of Ogden, Utah. Knudson began construction on October 21, 1948. Section one included the canal headworks, a sluiceway, two flumes, necessary drainage culverts, the Birch Creek Siphon, and the Dry Fork Siphon. The contractor completed the majority of the work under the contract during the spring and summer of 1949. Knudson finished all work on the contract September 6, 1949. On September 14, 1949, Reclamation filled the Birch Creek Siphon with water to test for leakage. Several joints leaked extensively during this first test. Reclamation then went back and sealed the joints with additional caulk. During the final test on September 28, the leakage had been reduced to a satisfactory level. Reclamation tested the Dry Fork Siphon on September 12, 1949, and accepted the structure as satisfactory after completion of the test.(9) Reclamation issued the contract for construction of sections two and three of the Mink Creek Canal to LeGrand Johnson of Logan, Utah, on October 12, 1948. The contractor began work October 25, 1948. This section contained few extraneous structures. Johnson did most of the work on the project during the spring and summer of 1949. He completed all work under both contracts on July 20, 1949.(10) Reclamation did minor construction work on the project which included the fabrication and installation of a fish screen, ?-inch mesh wire cloth in a wooden frame, at the headworks of the canal. Government forces also installed gages on various portions of the canal structure. Reclamation began testing the Mink Creek Canal on September 24, 1949, by diverting water from Mink Creek into the new structure. Thought he canal proved exceptionally tight, leakage from the canal caused a portion of the embankment to slide out on September 25. Leland Knudson replaced the embankment and lined the leaky section of the canal with clay a few days after the slide. Reclamation forces sealed the remaining leaks. Water flowed through the entire length of the canal and through the Station Creek Tunnel for the first time on November 23, 1949. Seasoning and further testing of the canal continued until the middle of December when cold weather prevented any further activity on the project.(11) At the conclusion of construction activities on Reclamation`s portion of the project, the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company extended and enlarged the Preston Branch of the Preston-Whitney Canal. On May 28, 1949, the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company contracted with the Preston-Whitney Irrigation company to convey project water through the latter`s facilities (Glendale Reservoir, Glendale Dam outlet works, and Preston Bench Canal). The contract and rehabilitation of existing features was necessary for conveyance of project water from Worm Creek to the project lands; the Reclamation structures only extended as far as the upper reaches of Worm Creek. The canal company also constructed a small diversion dam on Mink Creek at the head of the Mink Creek Canal. The canal company enlarged the canal in the fall of 1949. They completed the remainder of the work in the spring and summer of 1950.(12) Reclamation turned operation and maintenance responsibilities for the project works on the Preston Bench Project over to the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company on July 1, 1951.(13) Reclamation, in conjunction with the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company, successfully completed the Preston Bench Project in time to avert the threatened loss of water for irrigators associated with the canal company. Though the new Mink Creek Canal was not finished prior to the 1949 irrigation season, with careful operation and a reduced flow of water to prevent further landslides, the old Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal provided necessary irrigation water during the season.(14) The Preston Bench Project, located near the town of Preston in southeastern Idaho, consists of the Mink Creek Canal and the Station Creek Tunnel. Mink Creek, which captures the drainage of nearly thirteen square miles above the canal, provides the only water supply for the Mink Creek Canal, which in turn depends upon the natural flow of the stream. During the irrigation season the entire flow of the stream derives from natural springs located about four miles upstream from the headworks of the canal. The canal and tunnel supply irrigation water to over 5,000 acres of highly developed land in the vicinity of Preston, Idaho.(1)
Plan
Water is carried from Mink Creek through the project facilities to Worm Creek, from which it is diverted into privately built laterals and conveyed to project lands. Some of the project lands receive a partial supply through another canal system. Mink Creek Canal is earthlined, trapezoidal, and extends from a point on Mink Creek, 9 miles above its confluence with the Bear River, southward 15 miles to Worm Creek northeast of Preston. The canal has a diversion capacity of 36 cubic feet per second. The major structure on the canal is Station Creek Tunnel, which pierces a prominent divide between Station Creek and Worm Creek. It is a concrete lined, 6.5foot horseshoe tunnel The project is operated and maintained by the Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal Company. The Mink Creek Canal replaced a privately constructed canal that was seriously threatened by landslides, was costly to maintain, and posed a constant financial threat to the water users. The canal water also provides additional water to project users.
Contact
Contact
Title: Area Office ManagerOrganization: Provo Area Office
Address: 302 East 1860 South
City: Provo, UT 84606-7317
Phone: 801-379-1101
Owner
Title: Public Affairs OfficerOrganization: Upper Colorado Regional Office
Address: 125 South State Street, Rm 7102
City: Salt Lake City, UT 84138-1102
Fax: 801-524-5499
Phone: 801-524-3774
Contact
Organization: Preston, Riverdale, and Mink Creek Canal CompanyAddress: 10 South State Street
City: Preston, ID 83263
Fax: 208-852-1591
Phone: 208-852-1612
