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- Provo River Project
Provo River Project
State: Utah
Region: Upper Colorado Basin Region
Related Documents
Provo River Project History (79 KB)
Related Facilities
Related Links
Provo River near Woodland, Utah (USGS)
Weber River near Oakley, Utah (USGS)
Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region Water Operations
Palmer Drought Index Map
Explanation of the Palmer Drought Index
General
The Provo River Project provides a supplemental water supply for the irrigation of 48,156 acres of highly developed farmlands in Utah, Salt Lake, and Wasatch Counties, as well as an assured domestic water supply for Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, American Fork, and Lehi, Utah. The key structure of the project, Deer Creek Dam, is located on the Provo River east of the project lands. Other major structures are the powerplant at the dam, the 42-mile Salt Lake Aqueduct and Terminal Reservoir, Weber-Provo Diversion Canal, Duchesne Tunnel, Murdock Diversion Dam, Provo Reservoir Canal Enlargement, Jordan Narrows Siphon and Pumping Plant, and the South Lateral. The Salt Lake Aqueduct and Terminal Reservoir make up the Aqueduct Division; all other features are included in the Deer Creek division.
History
The first written report concerning this territory was made by John C. Fremont in the account of his expedition of 1843. General William H. Ashley led a party of fur traders into the West from St. Louis in the spring of 1822, and in 1825 established a trading post at Utah Lake known as Fort Ashley. The Provo River and the city of Provo are said to have been named after a trapper named Provost who was in the vicinity of Utah Lake as early as 1820. In March 1849, a group went southward from Salt Lake with the intention of establishing a colony on the Provo River. The settlement, started at a place called Old Fort Field, is now within the city limits of Provo. A fort was built and crops planted; over 200 acres were plowed the first year for wheat, rye, and corn. In August 1850, settlements were made at American Fork, Lehi, and Pleasant Grove. In 1856, Brigham Young outlined a plan for the use of Provo River water much the same as the plan used 80 years later by the Bureau.
Construction
Construction of the project began in May 1938, the first water becoming available in 1941 upon the completion of Deer Creek Dam. Construction of some features of the project was severely hampered by wartime scarcities of manpower, materials, and funds. Work on the Duchesne Tunnel had to be stopped in 1942, although construction continued on a small scale on the canal system and Salt Lake Aqueduct. In 1947, full-scale construction was resumed. Construction of features of the Aqueduct division was started in 1939 and completed in 1951. The Deer Creek Powerplant was completed in 1958. A supplemental water supply has been provided for 48,156 acres of highly developed farmlands, thus assuring maturity of valuable crops. Principal crops are alfalfa, grain, peaches, apples, pears, sugar beets, and canning crops, such as sweet corn, peas, and tomatoes. Municipal and industrial water service is provided for the metropolitan water districts of Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, American Fork, and Lehi. An average annual amount of 73,454 acre-feet is delivered to 479,221 persons. Deer Creek Reservoir (http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=1178) is on the Provo River about 16 miles northeast of Provo, Utah. Because a main highway crosses the dam, many visitors see the dam and reservoir during the year. The reservoir provides boating and excellent fishing in season, primarily for perch and native, rainbow, and brown trout. Four boat concessions, each with boats to rent to the public, are located on the shore and reservoir. Camping, swimming, boating, water skiing, and other forms of recreational use have increase dramatically. The Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation has administering responsibility. A new boat launching ramp, camp, and picnic facilities have been provided. The Deer Creek Reservoir (http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/dams/ut10117.htm) has 110,000 acre-feet of capacity assigned for flood control. The Provo River Project has provided an accumulated $22,000,000 in flood control benefits from 1950 to 1999. Built by Reclamation, periodically between 1938 and 1958, the Provo River Project was designed to provide supplemental irrigation water for 48,156 acres of highly developed farmlands in Salt Lake, Utah, and Washatch Counties, and additionally provide a domestic water supply for American Fork, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Provo, and Salt Lake City, Utah.(1) The Provo River Project is located between Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah, and encompasses lands in Salt Lake, Utah, and Wasatch Counties.(2) This part of the country is semiarid with a mean average rainfall of approximately fifteen inches. The growing season in the region varies from 124 days to 174 days on various parts of the project. Temperatures in the region range from -35 degrees to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Lack of great land areas and water suited the area suited to diversified, highly productive crops. Fruits and berries are important to the region`s agriculture.(3) Much of Utah`s early history consisted of explorers and trappers passing through the region with no designs on residing there permanently. Even when later trading posts were established, they were not built with the idea of creating permanent settlements. Some of the first explorers in the region were members of Coronado`s expedition in 1540. Several Franciscan Friars also traveled through the region while searching for a trail from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Monterey, California in 1776. It is believed that the Provo River and the city of Provo were named after a trapper named Provost, who was said to have operated near Utah Lake in 1820. General William H. Ashley arrived in that same area only two years later as he led a party of fur traders from St. Louis into the West. He established a trading post on Utah Lake in 1825. However, the first written history concerning the region was made by John C. Fremont as part of the record of his expedition in 1843. It was not until the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, however, that the region`s first permanent settlement was established.(4) In March of 1849, John S. Higbee led a party south from Salt Lake, and established a settlement on the Provo River at a place called Old Fort Field. The settlement was named Fort Utah, and is now within the city limits of Provo. The settlers built a fort, and planted crops. That first season they grew some 200 acres of wheat, rye, and corn. Soon after, population in the region grew as well. Settlements were established at American Fork, Lehi, and Pleasant Grove in August of 1850. By early October of that same year, settlers founded the towns of Springville and Payson as well.(5) However, the region`s population grew most after the first railroad came to Provo in November of 1873.(6) Since these early settlements farmers have sought knowledge of Utah`s streams in order to utilize water resources to their greatest advantage. The region`s farmers realized the economic importance of utilization of all available water, and beginning in 1902, attempted to organize projects for the purpose of building storage reservoirs. Soon thereafter, private capital funded construction of several small dams. However, larger projects lacked economic support and engineering planning an were not constructed.(7) In 1910, several individuals banded together to file appropriation applications for flood waters in the region`s streams and to conduct preliminary surveys of several storage reservoirs. This group operated for several years, and by an act of the Utah State Legislature, became the Utah Water Storage Commission in 1921. The commission`s duties consisted of initiating examination surveys and conducting investigations looking to both conserve and fully develop Utah`s water supply. The commissioners were also directed to cooperate with any interested city, county, state, private, or federal agency conducting related work.(8) The first investigations into the Provo River Project were initiated in 1922 through a request by the Utah Water Storage Commission. Investigations were conducted as a joint venture between the Commission and Reclamation.(9) The Provo River Project remained in the planning stages until the lands within the project area began experiencing a severe drought which lasted from 1931-1935. Utah Lake, which supplied much of the region`s irrigation water, fell from 850,000 acre-feet to 20,000 acre-feet in this time period. On the basis of a report submitted by Reclamation in the latter half of 1931, a proposal to build a storage reservoir on Provo River to be fed by diversions from other watersheds was developed. Steps were taken to obtain Congressional approval for the project. The first step involved organization of the Provo River Water Users Association in May of 1935 and organization of the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City the following August. The formation of these entities was necessary for the negotiation of repayment contracts between Reclamation and the water users. Following these preliminary steps, the project plan was submitted for approval.(10) Construction of the Provo River Project was initiated under the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved the project on November 16, 1935, under the terms of subsection B of section 4 of the act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 701.). Presidential approval of the Salt Lake Aqueduct came on October 24, 1938. Construction of the Deer Creek Powerplant was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, on August 20, 1951.(11) The project`s main features consist of: Deer Creek Dam, which forms Deer Creek Reservoir, Deer Creek Powerplant, Salt Lake Aqueduct and Terminal Reservoir, Murdock Diversion Dam, Murdock Canal (formerly named Provo Reservoir Canal), Weber-Provo Diversion Canal, Duchesne Tunnel, Jordan Narrows Siphon and Pumping Plant, and the South Lateral. The Deer Creek Reservoir stores flood water from Provo River, Weber River surplus diverted by the Weber-Provo Diversion Canal, and surplus water diverted by the Duchesne Tunnel from the headwaters of the Duchesne River. Releases from the reservoir serve the two divisions within the project. The Aqueduct Division consists of the Salt Lake Aqueduct and Terminal Reservoir. The Deer Creek Division includes all remaining project features. Water for the Aqueduct Division is diverted into the Salt Lake Aqueduct, and is stored in the Terminal Reservoir. The water provides the main domestic water supply for Salt Lake City, Utah.(12) At the Murdock Diversion Dam, approximately seven miles downstream from the storage reservoir, the Murdock Canal takes water from the Provo River. The twenty-three miles long canal serves the 46,609 acres of the Deer Creek Division. The Murdock Canal and the Jordan River provide water to the Jordan Narrows Siphon and Pumping Plant, which in turn supplies water to the project lands on the west side of the Jordan River and Utah Lake. The Jordan Narrows pump provides water to the South Lateral, which delivers its water supply to the area south of the pump and west of the Jordan River.(13)
Plan
The Deer Creek Reservoir stores Provo River floodwater, surplus water of the Weber River diverted by the enlarged Weber-Provo Diversion Canal, and surplus water from the headwaters of the Duchesne river diverted by the 6-mile Duchesne Tunnel. Releases from the reservoir for the Aqueduct Division are diverted at the dam into the Salt Lake Aqueduct, which carries water to a point near Salt Lake City to supplement the city`s supply. The Provo Reservoir Canal takes water from the Provo River at the Murdock Diversion Dam, about 7 miles downstream of the storage dam. This 23-mile-long canal serves the 46,609 acres in the Deer Creek Division. The Jordan Narrows Siphon and Pumping Plant furnishes water from the Provo Reservoir Canal and Jordan River to lands on the west side of Utah Lake and the Jordan River. The South Lateral delivers water supplies from the Jordan Narrows pump to the area south of the pump and west of the Jordan river. Deer Creek Powerplant generates 4,950 kilowatts of power. Deer Creek Dam is located on the Provo River about 16 miles northeast of Provo, Utah. It is a zoned earthfill structure 235 feet high with a crest length of 1,304 feet. The dam contains 2,810,000 cubic yards of material and forms a reservoir of 152,570 acre-foot capacity. The spillway is a concrete chute at the right abutment controlled by two radial gates. The capacity of the spillway is 12,000 cubic feet per second. The outlet works through the left abutment is a concrete-lined tunnel from the trashrack to the gate chamber, from which two steel pipes lead to the powerplant. Releases are controlled by two tube valves. The outlet works has a capacity of 1,500 cubic feet per second. The principal features of the collection system are the Duchesne Diversion Dam, Duchesne Tunnel, Weber-Provo Diversion Canal, and the Provo River. The Duchesne Diversion Dam is on the North Fork of the Duchesne River, about 30 miles east of Heber City, Utah. The dam is a rockfill weir, concrete-core wall structure, 23 feet high, with a weir crest length of 270 feet. The 600-cubic-foot-per-second Duchesne Tunnel, which carries water from the diversion dam to the Provo River drainage basin, is horseshoe-shaped, concrete-lined, 9.25 feet in diameter, and 6 miles long. The Weber-Provo Diversion Dam and Canal was originally part of the Weber River Project. The canal has been enlarged to supply water from the Weber River to the Deer Creek Reservoir on the Provo river. The dam, located 1 mile east of Oakley, Utah, is a concrete ogee overflow weir with embankment wings. The canal has a capacity of 1,000 cubic feet per second and a length of 9 miles, consisting of unlined, earth-lined, and concrete-lined sections. The principal feature of the Aqueduct Division is the Salt Lake Aqueduct, a 69-inch-diameter concrete pipeline 41.7 miles long, with a capacity of 150 cubic feet per second. Through this pipeline flows the domestic water supply for Salt Lake City. Two tunnels are a part of the aqueduct: The concrete-lined, 78-inch-diameter, horseshoe-shaped Alpine-Draper Tunnel which is 15,037 feet long; and the Olmstead Tunnel, identical in cross section with the Alpine-Draper Tunnel, but 3,614 feet long. The concrete terminal reservoir, with a capacity of 1,228 acre-feet, completes the system. Deer Creek Division structures include Murdock Diversion Dam, a concrete ogee weir structure, 22 feet high; Provo Reservoir Canal, with a diversion capacity of 550 cubic feet per second and a total length of 23 miles, consisting of unlined and concrete-lined sections; the 65-cubic-foot-per-second capacity Jordan Narrows Pumping Plant; and the South Lateral, with a capacity of 40 cubic feet per second and a length of about 4 miles. The powerplant was constructed on the substructure provided during the construction of Deer Creek Dam, has two 2,475-kilowatt generators, and was placed in operation in 1958. All features of the Deer Creek Division are operated and maintained by the Provo River Water Users Association. The Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City operates and maintains the aqueduct system.
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: Metropolitian Water District of Salt Lake CityAddress: 3430 East Danish Road
City: Sandy, UT 84093
Phone: 801-942-1391
Contact
Organization: Provo River Water Users AssociationAddress: 285 West 1100 North
City: Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
Phone: 801-796-8770
