Central Utah Project

Work on the Central Utah Project (CUP) began in the 1950s under the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Since 1992, the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD), with oversight by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), has been in charge of this project. The remaining features, the Uintah and Upalco units and portions of the Bonneville Unit, have undergone numerous studies and changes over the past several years in attempts to reach agreeable compromises among all the involved parties. The state of Utah supports the CUP and is working to help find such compromises.

The CUWCD has conducted numerous studies and worked with all interested parties since 1992 to reach an agreement on the Uintah and Upalco units. Thus far, the parties have not been able to come to an agreement. There are no active negotiations among the parties at this time, and it appears these units will be de-authorized. These projects were to develop flows of the Lake Fork and Yellowstone rivers and the Whiterocks and Uinta rivers for supplemental irrigation of non-Indian lands. They were also to provide water for municipal and industrial uses and instream flows for recreation and fish and wildlife.

Section 203(a) of the Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA) provides authorization for Uinta Basin Replacement Projects. The CUWCD and DOI have been working with the Moon Lake Water Users Association, the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District and other interested parties to develop a project. In February 2001, they released a Draft Environmental Assessment on the proposed Uinta Basin Replacement Project for public review and comment.

The proposed replacement project will double the size of Big Sand Wash Reservoir to 24,000 acre-feet, move water presently stored in four lakes in the Uinta Wilderness Area to the enlarged Big Sand Wash Reservoir, and provide instream flows in the Lake Fork River from Moon Lake to a new diversion about two miles upstream from the confluence with Pigeon Water Creek. The proposed project will also provide 7,500 acre-feet of storage space for new irrigation and M&I water for the Roosevelt area and 4,500 acre-feet of storage space for the high mountain lake water.

Two of the six Bonneville Unit Systems which provide a critical link to the Wasatch Front area have yet to be completed. These are the Diamond Fork System and the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Delivery System (Utah Lake System), the name given to the replacement project for Spanish Fork Canyon-Nephi Irrigation (SFN) System. The Diamond Fork System will convey water from Strawberry Reservoir to the mouth of Diamond Fork Canyon. The last segment of the Diamond Fork System is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion by June 2004. This system must be completed before the CUWCD can bring the full transbasin diversion of Bonneville Unit water from Strawberry Reservoir.

In March 1998, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the SFN System and the remaining section of the Diamond Fork System was released for public review and comment. Because of the significant issues raised by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Strawberry Water Users Association, and the Division of Water Quality on the DEIS, planning for the SFN System was discontinued.

Scoping for the Utah Lake System, as well as planning, environmental reviews, and obtaining a Record of Decision from the Secretary of the Interior, will likely take until 2004. How exactly the project water will be allocated is not known. Final design and construction of the project will probably require eight to ten years.

Bear River Development

In the Bear River Development Act, passed by the Legislature in 1991, the Division of Water Resources is directed to develop the surface waters of the Bear River and its tributaries. The act also allocates water among various counties and provides for the protection of existing water rights. The act allocates a total of 220,000 acre-feet of water annually as follows: the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District and Weber Basin Water Conservancy District are entitled to 50,000 acre-feet each; and the Bear River Water Conservancy District and Cache County entities 60,000 acre-feet each. The total cost of the project is estimated to be between $130-260 million, depending upon which dam site is chosen. If the project is constructed, the state of Utah will be obligated to construct diversion and, if necessary, storage and delivery facilities to move the water as far south as Willard Bay. All other required conveyance and treatment systems will be the responsibility of the contracting entities.

Based on revised water need estimates, public response and cost analysis, the division's current plan is as follows: (1) modify the existing operation of Willard Bay by agreement with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District to use it as a reservoir to store Bear River water, (2) connect the Bear River with a pipeline or canal to Willard Bay from a point near Interstate 15 and the crossing of the Bear River in Box Elder County, (3) construct conveyance and treatment facilities to deliver water from Willard Bay to the Wasatch Front, and (4) build a dam in the Bear River Basin. While parts (1) through (3) would be timed to deliver water to the Wasatch Front by about 2015, part (4) would be carried out when the Bear River Water Conservancy District or Cache County water users need additional water. If an agreement with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District to share Bear River water in Willard Bay cannot be reached, part (4) may occur sooner.

	The Lake Powell Pipeline project would pump water out of Lake Powell and convey it 120 miles overland to the St. George and Kanab areas. (Photo of Lake Powell courtesy of Tom Till.)

Lake Powell Pipeline

Since the late 1980s, Washington County has experienced the most rapid growth rate in Utah and one of the most rapid in the nation. Even though this high growth rate began to decline in 1996, it is expected to remain among the fastest growing areas in Utah through the first half of the century. Washington County Water Conservancy District estimates that presently developed supplies will sustain growth through about 2015. To meet growth beyond that point, it has a number of development proposals it hopes to implement over the next 50 years.

The largest of the proposals being investigated is piping Colorado River water into the area from Lake Powell, 120 miles away. Under the proposal, 70,000 acre-feet of water would be delivered to Washington County and approximately 10,000 acre-feet to Kane County. The estimated total cost of this project is about $257 million, with a total unit cost of $256 per acre-foot. If the cost to treat and deliver the water for M&I uses is also included, the unit cost works out to be $414 per acre-foot.¹ Although the water is not expected to be needed until about 2030, the district is working to obtain the necessary water rights, easements and rights-of-way.

Other Local Projects

There are numerous other water development projects under construction or investigation throughout Utah. Many of these are listed and explained in more detail in the river basin plans prepared over the last decade by the Division of Water Resources.² These projects range from rehabilitation or expansion of existing infrastructure that fully develop exising water rights to entirely new projects that develop additional water supplies.

The Duchesne and Uintah County Water Conservancy districts are investigating a number of projects within their service areas, that, if built, would develop over 100,000 acre-feet of water and cost more than $250 million. These projects would fill a variety of environmental and human needs including instream flows, fish conservation pools, flood control, secondary irrigation, municipal and industrial uses, and crop irrigation.

Power Generation

The western states' power crisis that began in 2000 has many regional and local power suppliers in Utah looking to increase their power generation capacities. This will enable them to meet future demands and meet current peak demands without having to rely on the wholesale market.

Utah's 2000 power requirement averaged about 3,000 megawatts. With the state's invitation to high-tech companies to locate in Utah, this requirement could easily double to as high as 6,100 megawatts by the year 2010. With or without these high-tech companies, Utah's power demand is expected to increase substantially over the next several decades as the population continues to grow.Water use associated with power generation varies depending upon the size and the type of power plant. Coal-fired plants use between 15 and 25 acre-feet per year per megawatt of generating capacity. Most of this water is used for cooling the steam returning from the turbines. Newer plants, with natural gas-fueled jet-type engines, use between two and three acre-feet per year per megawatt. This water is used to reduce exhaust emissions and provide cooling. Some plants utilizing diesel or natural gas-fueled piston engines have self-contained cooling systems and use no water at all.