The Carbon Canal is an irrigation canal in the central portion of Utah , United States. The canal was constructed by the Carbon Canal Company between 1907 and 1909 to provide water to agricultural fields west and south of the Price River .
142-629: The Carbon Canal is a 28-mile long canal containing lined and unlined (i.e., earthen) sections. It begins at a weir on the Price River near the Spring Glen turn-off on U.S. Highway 6 and extends through Carbonville and the community of Price into Emery County to a point northeast of Elmo . It contains numerous flumes that carry the canal over rolling terrain. From the beginning of Euro-American settlement in Carbon County ,
284-547: A caisson of water in which boats float while being moved between two levels; and inclined planes where a caisson is hauled up a steep railway. To cross a stream, road or valley (where the delay caused by a flight of locks at either side would be unacceptable) the valley can be spanned by a navigable aqueduct – a famous example in Wales is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site ) across
426-510: A drainage divide atop a ridge , generally requiring an external water source above the highest elevation . The best-known example of such a canal is the Panama Canal . Many canals have been built at elevations, above valleys and other waterways. Canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination such as a city where water is needed. The Roman Empire 's aqueducts were such water supply canals. The term
568-415: A "cistern", or depressed area just downstream from the fall, to "cushion" the water by providing a deep pool for its kinetic energy to be diffused in. Vertical falls work for drops of up to 1.5 m in height, and for discharge of up to 15 cubic meters per second. The transport capacity of pack animals and carts is limited. A mule can carry an eighth-ton [250 pounds (113 kg)] maximum load over
710-496: A canal has a series of dams and locks that create reservoirs of low speed current flow. These reservoirs are referred to as slack water levels , often just called levels . A canal can be called a navigation canal when it parallels a natural river and shares part of the latter's discharges and drainage basin , and leverages its resources by building dams and locks to increase and lengthen its stretches of slack water levels while staying in its valley . A canal can cut across
852-413: A combination of the three, depending on available water and available path: Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats , while ship canals allow seagoing ships to travel to an inland port (e.g., Manchester Ship Canal ), or from one sea or ocean to another (e.g., Caledonian Canal , Panama Canal ). At their simplest, canals consist of a trench filled with water. Depending on
994-461: A concrete-lined canal resting on newly placed earthen fill. Additional work to be conducted under the loan included “tearing out the sluice gate at what is known as Sand wash” and replacing it with a series of dykes and iron pipes. Work at the flume commenced in September 1926, after the end of the irrigation season. One caveat of the loan from the state land board was that all work conducted with
1136-639: A few were contested by violence. The underlying soils in Emery County consist of ancient seabeds which contain high levels of salts. Poor drainage and over-irrigation cause the salts to collect on the surface, rendering large land areas unsuitable for agriculture. The problem first appeared in the 1890s, and in 1903, a Department of Agriculture report stated that over 30% of the developed farmland in Emery County had been abandoned due to degradation. With expanded irrigation development came expanded settlement as several new towns were established. In addition,
1278-515: A few years later and then again in 1942. The looming failure of the Scofield Dam posed a national threat as the U.S. entered World War II . Wartime demand for the mineral resources of Carbon County and the transport power of the D&;RGW railroad placed these resources in the national spotlight. The potential loss or temporary shut-down of the mines and railroad created an unacceptable risk to
1420-549: A journey measured in days and weeks, though much more for shorter distances and periods with appropriate rest. Besides, carts need roads. Transport over water is much more efficient and cost-effective for large cargoes. The oldest known canals were irrigation canals, built in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC , in what is now Iraq . The Indus Valley civilization of ancient India ( c. 3000 BC ) had sophisticated irrigation and storage systems developed, including
1562-604: A more extensive system was needed. The first large-scale effort to develop an irrigation system occurred in the late 1880s, when the newly formed Price Water Company completed what became known as the Price Canal. The canal, which was fed by a diversion on the Price River near the Spring Glen turn-off on SR-6, was completed in 1888. The canal—still in use today—carries water east and north of the Price River, skirting
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#17327828813661704-403: A network of smaller ditches to carry water from the canal to their agricultural lands, including fields south of the Price River. The completion of the canal, with its weir upstream of the community of Price and its lack of diversions south of Wellington, finally provided a relatively reliable supply of irrigation water to farmlands south of the Price River. The irrigation water supply to Wellington
1846-464: A parched land. Over its long history, the Carbon Canal has quietly and consistently done its job with the help of Carbon Canal Company, which maintains and repairs the aging infrastructure. Periodic flood events, particularly flash floods, have taken their toll on the canal and often overwhelm the diversion structure on the Price River. To address this issue, the canal company, in cooperation with
1988-613: A railroad route. He was commissioned for this assignment by the US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis . He left detailed descriptions of his travels and carefully laid out his route through Castle Valley. Gunnison's route first met the Spanish Trail at the Green River crossing. He followed this trail for a short distance west of the Green River, but when the Spanish Trail entered a rugged rocky region (Sinbad Reef) he charted
2130-581: A rather low gradient for its time. The canal is still in use after renovation. In the Middle Ages , water transport was several times cheaper and faster than transport overland. Overland transport by animal drawn conveyances was used around settled areas, but unimproved roads required pack animal trains, usually of mules to carry any degree of mass, and while a mule could carry an eighth ton, it also needed teamsters to tend it and one man could only tend perhaps five mules, meaning overland bulk transport
2272-561: A result, unemployment has remained higher than that of the State since 1990. The County still contains extensive natural resources that could be tapped, but the jobs produced from new mining activity may be at a similar level as those replaced by technology. A proposed nuclear power plant, the Blue Castle Project , is set to begin construction near Green River in 2023. Emery County School District operates public schools in
2414-489: A route around this feature. The third government explorer was John C. Fremont , in the winter of 1853–54. The cold weather heavily impacted his trip. They suffered from a lack of food and from the inhospitable landscape. There was no relief from their difficulties until they left Castle Valley and made their way to the small Mormon settlement of Parowan . In 1875 livestock growers from Sanpete County brought cattle and sheep into Castle Valley to graze, and several recognized
2556-538: A sawmill in Huntington Canyon to support the colony. On Ferron Creek, settlers plowed lands and began the construction of a ditch for irrigation. Most early settlers in Castle Valley claimed easily watered bottom lands along the creeks and rivers, and by 1879, most of the best lands had been taken up. The Utah Territorial Legislature created Emery County on February 12, 1880. The description included
2698-459: A uniform altitude. Other, generally later, canals took more direct routes requiring the use of various methods to deal with the change in level. Canals have various features to tackle the problem of water supply. In cases, like the Suez Canal, the canal is open to the sea. Where the canal is not at sea level, a number of approaches have been adopted. Taking water from existing rivers or springs
2840-422: Is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide , making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins . Both navigations and canals use engineered structures to improve navigation: Since they cut across drainage divides, canals are more difficult to construct and often need additional improvements, like viaducts and aqueducts to bridge waters over streams and roads, and ways to keep water in
2982-609: Is extant in numerous pictograph and petroglyph panels, such as those in Temple Mountain Wash, Muddy Creek , Ferron Box, Black Dragon Canyon, and Buckhorn Wash - all sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places . Ute Indians also occupied sites in Castle Valley, The first non-indigenous persons to view Castle Valley were Spanish Traders and Explorers. The first of record was Silvestre Vélez de Escalante ; in 1776, he crossed northern Utah through
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#17327828813663124-701: Is presumed, introduced in Italy by Bertola da Novate in the 16th century. This allowed wider gates and also removed the height restriction of guillotine locks . To break out of the limitations caused by river valleys, the first summit level canals were developed with the Grand Canal of China in 581–617 AD whilst in Europe the first, also using single locks, was the Stecknitz Canal in Germany in 1398. In
3266-599: Is rarely less than 30 metres (98 ft) wide. In the 5th century BC, Achaemenid king Xerxes I of Persia ordered the construction of the Xerxes Canal through the base of Mount Athos peninsula, Chalkidiki , northern Greece. It was constructed as part of his preparations for the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a part of the Greco-Persian Wars . It is one of the few monuments left by
3408-418: Is steeper than the desired canal gradient. They are constructed so the falling water's kinetic energy is dissipated in order to prevent it from scouring the bed and sides of the canal. A canal fall is constructed by cut and fill . It may be combined with a regulator, bridge, or other structure to save costs. There are various types of canal falls, based on their shape. One type is the ogee fall, where
3550-452: Is the pound lock , which consists of a chamber within which the water level can be raised or lowered connecting either two pieces of canal at a different level or the canal with a river or the sea. When there is a hill to be climbed, flights of many locks in short succession may be used. Prior to the development of the pound lock in 984 AD in China by Chhaio Wei-Yo and later in Europe in
3692-612: The 2020 United States Census , the population was 9,825. Its county seat is Castle Dale , and the largest city is Huntington . Occupation of the San Rafael region dates back thousands of years to include people of the Desert Archaic Culture who were followed by those of the Fremont culture who inhabited present-day Emery County through the sixth through thirteenth centuries AD. Evidence of these civilizations
3834-602: The Bureau of Reclamation in the 1930s. Over the ensuing decades, various water users, including the Carbon Canal Company, had filed suits over the distribution and priority of water rights in the Price River. The lawsuits filed by the canal company appear, at least in part from available documents, to have focused on procedural failings in the granting of water rights to users in Sanpete County, particularly
3976-596: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which established several CCC camps in the county. Company 959 established a camp in Joes Valley in May 1933. The camp moved several times in the following years before establishing a permanent camp near Ferron in 1935. A second camp was established at Castle Dale in 1935, and another camp was established at Green River in 1938. During its tenure in Emery County,
4118-658: The Elbe , Oder and Weser being linked by canals. In post-Roman Britain, the first early modern period canal built appears to have been the Exeter Canal , which was surveyed in 1563, and open in 1566. The oldest canal in the European settlements of North America, technically a mill race built for industrial purposes, is Mother Brook between the Boston, Massachusetts neighbourhoods of Dedham and Hyde Park connecting
4260-416: The Fremont culture . The State of Utah owns the site and is currently identifying the remains and developing a long-term conservation plan. Source: Source: According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey , there were 9,825 people in Emery County with a population density of 2.2 people per square mile (0.9/km ). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup
4402-551: The Huntington Canal (1884), Emery Canal (1885), Cleveland Canal (1885), and the Wakefield Ditch (1880). Many of the early canals are still in service. The county boundaries were altered in 1880 and 1890. In 1894 the north portion of the county was partitioned off to create Carbon County. The county boundaries remained intact after that, except for a small adjustment in the city of Green River in 2003. In
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4544-1058: The Natural Resources Conservation Service , is embarking upon an effort to repair and replace the diversion dam and intake structure at the headwaters of the Carbon Canal. This effort, which should be completed in 2018, will leave portions of the original dam in place. These remains will stand as a reminder to future generations of the efforts of early pioneers to harness the water of the Price River and create an agricultural industry in their Carbon County settlements. 39°32′55″N 110°48′11″W / 39.54861°N 110.80306°W / 39.54861; -110.80306 Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation ) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi ). They carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure , and can be thought of as artificial rivers . In most cases,
4686-543: The Naviglio Grande built between 1127 and 1257 to connect Milan with the river Ticino . The Naviglio Grande is the most important of the lombard " navigli " and the oldest functioning canal in Europe. Later, canals were built in the Netherlands and Flanders to drain the polders and assist transportation of goods and people. Canal building was revived in this age because of commercial expansion from
4828-573: The News Advocate reported that water had been turned into the Drunkard’s Wash section of the canal and initial indications were that the work completed there was satisfactory. Financial challenges continued to plague the canal company. Flooding in August 1927 caused severe damage to many of the flumes and other structures along the canal. Lacking sufficient in-house funds for the repair work,
4970-545: The Phoenix metropolitan area was the most complex in ancient North America. A portion of the ancient canals has been renovated for the Salt River Project and now helps to supply the city's water. The Sinhalese constructed the 87 km (54 mi) Yodha Ela in 459 A.D. as a part of their extensive irrigation network which functioned in a way of a moving reservoir due to its single banking aspect to manage
5112-528: The River Brue at Northover with Glastonbury Abbey , a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its initial purpose is believed to be the transport of building stone for the abbey, but later it was used for delivering produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. It remained in use until at least the 14th century, but possibly as late as the mid-16th century. More lasting and of more economic impact were canals like
5254-614: The Songhai Empire of West Africa, several canals were constructed under Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad I between Kabara and Timbuktu in the 15th century. These were used primarily for irrigation and transport. Sunni Ali also attempted to construct a canal from the Niger River to Walata to facilitate conquest of the city but his progress was halted when he went to war with the Mossi Kingdoms . Around 1500–1800
5396-504: The State of Utah assumed ownership of the Carbon Canal assets in early 1932 due to the outstanding debt of the canal company. A 1934 Salt Lake Telegram article refers to the canal as the “state controlled Carbon canal (sic)” and notes that the canal company still owes the state $ 65,000. Despite the challenges, the canal company soldiered on, attempting in 1937 to raise money through an additional assessment on its water users to complete what
5538-480: The poverty line . In terms of education attainment, out of the 6,350 people in Emery County 25 years or older, 358 (5.6%) had not completed high school , 1,909 (30.1%) had a high school diploma or equivalency, 3,081 (48.5%) had some college or associate degree , 687 (10.8%) had a bachelor's degree , and 315 (5.0%) had a graduate or professional degree . As of 2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Emery County, Utah are: Livestock and farming were
5680-556: The reservoirs built at Girnar in 3000 BC. This is the first time that such planned civil project had taken place in the ancient world. In Egypt , canals date back at least to the time of Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332–2283 BC), who ordered a canal built to bypass the cataract on the Nile near Aswan . In ancient China , large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (8th–5th centuries BC),
5822-404: The stratum the canal passes through, it may be necessary to line the cut with some form of watertight material such as clay or concrete. When this is done with clay, it is known as puddling . Canals need to be level, and while small irregularities in the lie of the land can be dealt with through cuttings and embankments, for larger deviations other approaches have been adopted. The most common
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5964-471: The 12th century. River navigations were improved progressively by the use of single, or flash locks . Taking boats through these used large amounts of water leading to conflicts with watermill owners and to correct this, the pound or chamber lock first appeared, in the 10th century in China and in Europe in 1373 in Vreeswijk , Netherlands. Another important development was the mitre gate , which was, it
6106-472: The 15th century, either flash locks consisting of a single gate were used or ramps, sometimes equipped with rollers, were used to change the level. Flash locks were only practical where there was plenty of water available. Locks use a lot of water, so builders have adopted other approaches for situations where little water is available. These include boat lifts , such as the Falkirk Wheel , which use
6248-830: The 1920s. Things improved somewhat during the later years of the decade, but an even more significant collapse came with the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. In addition, severe drought in 1931 and 1934 intensified the economic hardship in the county. The 1930s were difficult for Emery County residents. The county population dropped by 5% from 1920 to 1930, although it remained somewhat steady after that. Agricultural prices dropped 40% from their 1929 level, and coal production dropped by half. Water shortages and land degradation continued to be problems. In 1935, only 16,462 acres (66.62 km ) out of 41,725 acres (168.86 km ) produced crops. The residents did benefit from several depression-relief programs, including
6390-515: The CCC built roads, bridges, and trails, as well as building ranger stations and other projects on public lands. Many enrollees settled in Emery County after their discharge from the Corps. Following the end of World War II , Emery County veterans returned to find relative economic prosperity. County farm income in 1946 was double that of 1940, and the coal mines were operating at fairly high levels. During
6532-550: The Cabulla, which refers to the small edible part of cactus pear. Huntington Creek was originally called San Marcus; Ute Indians called it Sivareeche, and the Spanish called it Mateo. The Indians called Castle Valley Tompin-con-tu or rock house land, which relates to the present Castle Valley. The Spanish named the valley St. Joseph's Valley. Range Creek rises in Emery County and has recently been shown to have pristine remains of
6674-652: The Carbon Canal Company filed a lawsuit against the Cottonwood–Gooseberry Irrigation Company and others over water rights to the Price River drainage. This case, as with the 1960 court decision, did not turn out in favor of the canal company. In a 1967 Utah Supreme Court decision on cases of the Carbon Canal Company and the Price River Water Improvement District (PRWID) against the SPWUA, the court found in favor of
6816-442: The Carbon Canal Company. According to the certificate, the diverting works on the river were to comprise “a concrete diversion dam … and a canal measuring 149,737 ft. long, 5 to 18 ft. wide on top, 4 to 12 ft. wide in the bottom, having an effective depth from 2 to 6 ft.” The length of the canal would carry it through the southern part of Carbon County and into the now-abandoned northern Emery County town of Victor . The diversion dam
6958-570: The Carbon Canal began shortly after the granting of the water right. By January 1908, the Emery County Progress newspaper reported that work on the canal was “well under way” by the firm of Snow, Waterman and Williams of Spanish Fork, Utah. The newspaper noted that numerous construction camps had been established along the proposed route of the canal and 100 men and 60 livestock teams were on-site. Lumber and cement were reportedly being brought in by rail to Helper and then transported to
7100-470: The Carbon County Land and Water Company), sent a telegraph message to the state engineer’s office protesting the plan of repair outlined by Bacon and stating that they would not allow any further expenditure of loan funds on the work until such time as they had been granted a meeting with the state land board to discuss their objections to the repair plans. The dispute between the canal company,
7242-489: The Carbon Plant). The canal company was to provide up to 1600 acre feet of “direct flow of water” to the plant. The water was to be furnished via the canal company’s existing water rights on the Price River and not from the Carbon Canal itself. UP&L paid an initial sum of $ 10,000 for use of the water and an annual fee based on the specific amount of water used that year. The price per acre foot of water used by UP&L
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#17327828813667384-457: The Castle Valley. Quitchupah is a small creek south of Emery. The Spanish name is still used in San Rafael, which means Saint Ralph. During Spanish times, the name Rafael was also given to the present Ferron Creek. In 1873, A.D. Ferron, the surveyor sent by Washington to perform cadastral surveys of eastern Utah, named this creek, but before this time, it was the Rafael. The Ute Indians called it
7526-666: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), issued an order to the Sanpete LDS Stake president seeking "... at least fifty families [to] locate in Castle Valley this fall." The order led to the last Mormon colony settled under the direction of Brigham Young. One week later on August 29, Young, the Great Colonizer, died. During his 30 years as leader of the LDS Church, Young had overseen and directed
7668-538: The Drunkard’s Wash flume around 1944 or 1945. Additional improvements during the period appear from company records to have included construction of a drop structure known as the Marsing Drop, changes to the Gordon Creek flume, and consideration was given to the installation of 153 Parshall flumes along the canal. Upstream from the canal, much activity was underway during the 1940s to address the challenges at
7810-552: The Gooseberry Project—which would replace the Scofield Dam and reservoir—to irrigate lands in Carbon County and Sanpete County. The announcement of these plans kicked off decades of litigation that continued for more than 80 years. The project has yet to be constructed. Company records indicate the 1940s were largely spent repairing or replacing components of the canal system. This included repair or replacement of
7952-634: The Irrigated Lands Company, which began construction of the Mammoth Dam in 1907. In 1911, the Irrigated Lands Company reorganized as Price River Irrigation Company. On June 25, 1917, the partially completed dam collapsed, releasing 11,000 acre-feet of water downstream and causing an estimated $ 1 million in flood damage throughout the drainage. Shortly thereafter, the Price River Irrigation Company abandoned
8094-529: The Moab crossing of the Colorado River hoping that they would find Santa Fe. They met a Spanish caravan of forty or fifty people going to California. They joined the caravan and traveled through Castle Valley in 1809 and went on to California. In 1830, William Wilfskill came to Castle Valley along the Spanish Trail. He and his party were fur trappers but found little in the area to keep them here. Following
8236-590: The Persian Empire in Europe . Greek engineers were also among the first to use canal locks , by which they regulated the water flow in the Ancient Suez Canal as early as the 3rd century BC. There was little experience moving bulk loads by carts, while a pack-horse would [i.e. 'could'] carry only an eighth of a ton. On a soft road a horse might be able to draw 5/8ths of a ton. But if
8378-577: The Price River Water Conservation District (PRWCD), which was formed in 1921 to develop water storage along the Price River, would assume control of the assets from the state. In the same session, the legislature also voted to cancel the reported $ 140,000 debt owed by the canal company as part of transferring the canal to the PRWCD. It appears from historical meeting minutes that the canal company recovered its ownership of
8520-588: The Price River drainage had started in 1896 with the forming of the Mammoth Reservoir Company. The company was specifically organized to develop water storage facilities in the mountains northwest of Price, at the site of present-day Scofield Reservoir . Shortly thereafter, several farmers in Sanpete County acquired the reservoir company’s water rights to allow them to divert water to their lands. In 1902, they sold their water rights to
8662-538: The Price River was one of a few perennial freshwater sources on which pioneers could rely. The river’s drainage was first permanently settled by Mormon pioneers in the late 1870s at Spring Glen. Within three years, other small settlements appeared at Carbonville , Price , Wellington , and Helper . With the exception of Helper, which was established to support trains making the climb over Soldier Summit , these communities depended on agriculture for basic subsistence. Thus, their dependence on freshwater sources—particularly
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#17327828813668804-485: The Price River—for more than culinary water was strong and deep. Crop production on the dry uplands was limited by a lack of facilities to carry water from the river. The first settlers reportedly carried water from the river in wooden barrels and tanks to their fields. This lasted until the settlers dug a series of small ditches to convey irrigation water to their fields. The ditches proved generally sufficient to serve
8946-530: The Red Seeps to Huntington Creek, crossing about a mile below where the present bridge crosses; thence to Cottonwood Creek. It crossed the Ferron Creek where Molen now stands. It passed through the Rochester Flats about one mile (1.6 km) east of present-day Moore and crossed the Muddy Creek about two miles (3.2 km) due east of the present town of Emery . It then went over Salina (Salt Creek) Canyon. It then turned south and went through Parowan, Mountain Meadows, Las Vegas Nevada, Barstow California, and to
9088-410: The San Rafael River after they pass the communities and adjacent farmland. It then twists its way through the rock and desert to its junction with the Green River. Geographical names feature Native American, Spanish and English influences. Two Ute Indian names: Wasatch, a gap in the mountains; Quitchupah, a place where animals fare poorly. Wasatch is the name of the plateau between the Sanpete Valley and
9230-451: The Sanpete Water Users Association (SPWUA). In 1960, the Utah Supreme Court upheld an earlier district court decision, which had been challenged by the Carbon Canal Company, allowing additional time for potential Sanpete County water users of the proposed Gooseberry Project to develop plans for storage facilities and water tunnels to carry irrigation water from the Price River drainage into the Sanpitch River drainage. A few years later, in 1965,
9372-405: The Scofield Dam. As noted above, the dam had started to deteriorate significantly during the late 1920s. The outlet tunnel had failed numerous times, and an embankment was eroding away. On May 21, 1928, a beaver tunneling into the dam nearly caused the entire dam to fail. In an emergency effort to decrease the pressure on the dam, the spillway was lowered several feet; it was lowered another 7.5 feet
9514-476: The Southwest by 1300 CE. Archaeologists working at a major archaeological dig in the 1990s in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, identified a culture and people that may have been the ancestors of the Hohokam. This prehistoric group occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BCE, and in the Early Agricultural period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. The large-scale Hohokam irrigation network in
9656-407: The U.S. war effort at home, prompting the federal government to get involved. The complicated web of water rights to the existing reservoir and Price River watershed created numerous challenges to addressing the issues as the Scofield Dam. The situation ultimately prompted then-President Franklin Roosevelt to authorize construction of a new Scofield Dam project on June 24, 1943 under the provisions of
9798-446: The Uintah Basin. Spanish traders and explorers soon found a more southerly route, and their path became known as the Old Spanish Trail . It began at Santa Fe , to Durango, Colorado , crossed the Colorado River (then known as Grand River) near present-day Moab , then to the Green River -crossing where Green River is now located, thence westerly to Cedar Mountain. It went on the South side of Cedar Mountain, across Buckhorn Flat, passed
9940-420: The Water Conservation and Utilization Act of 1939. Construction of the new dam began September 13, 1943 and was sufficiently advanced by November 1945 for water to be impounded in the reservoir. Final construction was completed in October 1947. On April 1, 1949, the Carbon Water Conservancy District, which was formed in 1943 and which signed a repayment contract with the BOR for $ 216,000, assumed responsibility for
10082-401: The age of 18. 2,833 (80.1%) of households were owner-occupied while 702 (19.9%) were renter-occupied . The median income for a Emery County household was $ 57,772 and the median family income was $ 71,556, with a per-capita income of $ 24,372. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $ 62,786 and for females $ 33,143. 12.0% of the population and 7.8% of families were below
10224-465: The area as the economy grew sufficiently to allow for a community of supporting commercial enterprises. Most settlers not directly involved in the mining and railroading industries as laborers at least supplemented their household economy with agricultural pursuits if not relying entirely upon them. As the population grew and the demand for irrigation water increased, early ditches reached the limits of their capacity. It soon became clear to area farmers that
10366-539: The canal company borrowed $ 4,000 (at 7% interest) from the Carbon Emery Bank of Price to pay for raising the flume and replacing the abutments where the Carbon Canal crosses Pinnacle Wash. The debt was to be repaid by November 1 of the following year. In 1966, the canal company board introduced a resolution to borrow additional funds to partner with the Carbon Country Club to enlarge and re-align
10508-507: The canal company that their water right claim of 1937 had priority over a 1924 claim by the SPWUA because the SPWUA had missed deadlines for filing their claim and making subsequent filings. Unfortunately for the Carbon Canal Company, the litigation over the Gooseberry Project continued well into the modern era. Throughout its history, the Carbon Canal has been a vital component of rural agricultural life in Carbon County. To some,
10650-431: The canal during the 1940s. Financial difficulties weren’t the only challenge faced by Price River water users during the years of the Great Depression . By the late 1920s, the dam at Scofield was beginning to fail, threatening a catastrophic flood and damage or destruction of extensive mining operations, the D&RGW railroad, and other facilities. Also during this time, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) began planning
10792-412: The canal is nothing more than a simple ditch in the ground. But to many, its trenches and dugways, its flumes and diversions, are a constant reminder of tremendous effort of the settlers of the early 1900s to bring water to the dry lands of the area and sustain an agricultural way of life for generations to come. The canal remains in use today, continuing its more than 100-year-old job of delivering water to
10934-436: The canal pressure with the influx of water. It was also designed as an elongated reservoir passing through traps creating 66 mini catchments as it flows from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa . The canal was not designed for the quick conveying of water from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa but to create a mass of water between the two reservoirs, which would in turn provided for agriculture and the use of humans and animals. They also achieved
11076-436: The canal structure began to degrade from the use. Lacking deep financial reserves, the canal company applied for a loan from the state land board (part of the present-day Department of Natural Resources) to complete much needed repairs. In 1926, the land board authorized a loan of $ 20,000 to the canal company, with $ 5,000 of the funding to be used to replace the wooden sidehill flume at Drunkard’s Wash (i.e., Drunkard’s Creek) with
11218-418: The canal to form a dam. They are generally placed in pre-existing grooves in the canal bank. On more modern canals, "guard locks" or gates were sometimes placed to allow a section of the canal to be quickly closed off, either for maintenance, or to prevent a major loss of water due to a canal breach. A canal fall , or canal drop, is a vertical drop in the canal bed. These are built when the natural ground slope
11360-462: The canal. Where large amounts of goods are loaded or unloaded such as at the end of a canal, a canal basin may be built. This would normally be a section of water wider than the general canal. In some cases, the canal basins contain wharfs and cranes to assist with movement of goods. When a section of the canal needs to be sealed off so it can be drained for maintenance stop planks are frequently used. These consist of planks of wood placed across
11502-469: The channel. There are two broad types of canal: Historically, canals were of immense importance to commerce and the development, growth and vitality of a civilization. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of anthracite coal; by the 1930s the company which built and operated it for over a century ceased operation. The few canals still in operation in our modern age are a fraction of
11644-411: The coal industry, which had consisted of small mines to cover local demand, had significantly expanded, with several large-scale operations starting in the county. The US entry into The Great War created a minor boom in Emery County as agricultural prices rose and manpower shortages caused wages at the mines to rise. Following the war, prices dropped significantly, leading to hard times throughout much of
11786-578: The coast. This Trail had to traverse Castle Valley to skirt the steep-walled canyons of the San Juan, Colorado, Green, Dirty Devil, and San Rafael Rivers. Slavery was the principal trade between Santa Fe and the Utah region. The trading of Indian women and children to the Spanish, although illegal, was the purpose of the Spanish coming into the area to become Utah. The other use of the trail was to herd livestock, mostly horses, from California to Santa Fe. Since
11928-481: The company sought another loan from the state land board—this time for $ 51,000. The Salt Lake Telegram reported that the state was willing to authorize the loan, adding it to an existing $ 67,000 debt owed by the canal company on prior loans so long as an existing second mortgage held by the Utah Savings and Trust Company was paid first. A bonding group associated with the canal company paid Utah Savings and Trust
12070-502: The company, represented by R. W. Crocket, applied to the State of Utah for water rights on the Price River for the purpose of constructing a canal that would carry irrigation water to lands west and south of Price and lands south of Wellington and the river. The water right was granted on August 30, 1906 and received final approval in March 1907. The Certificate of Water Rights allocated 125 cubic feet per second (cfs) of Price River water to
12212-420: The county is dry with rough terrain. Green River, the largest community on this side of the county, is more closely tied to the communities and economy of Grand County. Emery County's maps show the importance of the forest lands to the local communities as there are few significant groundwater aquifers in the area. Emery County contains three areas: the mountainous Wasatch Plateau to the west; Castle Valley, where
12354-706: The county lives along the base of these mountains. The San Rafael Swell occupies most of the area to the east. The western side of the county is the most populated and contains numerous small communities residing in an agricultural valley that roughly parallels the Manti National Forest to the west. Streams originate in the Wasatch Plateau in the forest, and their headwaters are stored in several reservoirs. Agricultural areas depend on these reservoirs and waterways for survival, and some farmland communities struggle with excess salinity. The east side of
12496-403: The course of the Price River directly below the diversion point of the Price Canal to address anticipated flood damage to the Carbon Canal diverting works a short distance downstream. It is unclear if that work was ever completed. Two years later, in 1968, the flume at Drunkard’s Wash was lined with fiberglass to prevent water leakage and address other damage, some of which was apparently caused by
12638-399: The drop follows an s-shaped curve to create a smooth transition and reduce turbulence . However, this smooth transition does not dissipate the water's kinetic energy, which leads to heavy scouring. As a result, the canal needs to be reinforced with concrete or masonry to protect it from eroding. Another type of canal fall is the vertical fall, which is "simple and economical". These feature
12780-571: The early 1880s, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad contemplated possible routings through the Emery County region. Early plans to locate the railroad through the heart of Emery County were thwarted when the route over the Wasatch Range was too steep. The route was moved to the NE part of the county, bypassing most settlements. Most of the county thus missed on economic opportunities brought by
12922-464: The entire canal channel, was essentially complete by April 30, 1928, when water was turned into the newly built flumes. The Great Depression started the year after the flood repairs, and a severe drought gripped Utah beginning in 1931. Across the state, low crop yields, coupled with weak markets, led many water users to default on their payments to canal companies. The Carbon Canal Company appears to have struggled with their continued financial woes, and
13064-498: The establishment of almost 400 towns and villages. The settlement of Emery County was his last. Soon after the issuance of Young's order, several bands of settlers moved out from the Sanpete region and headed for Castle Valley (Emery County). They settled along Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek. The following spring (1878), several more families arrived. In the spring of 1878, Elias Cox and Charles Hollingshead set up
13206-469: The expansion of coal mines to fuel them. On August 6, 2007, at 2:48 A.M., UtahAmerican Energy 's Crandall Canyon Mine , 15 miles (24 kilometers) west north-west of Huntington collapsed, trapping 6 workers inside. The mine, located just off State Route 31 , is about 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Fairview , and 140 mi (230 km) south of Salt Lake City (100 mi or 160 km). The workers were approximately 3.4 mi (5.5 km) from
13348-670: The first summit level canal to use pound locks in Europe was the Briare Canal connecting the Loire and Seine (1642), followed by the more ambitious Canal du Midi (1683) connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This included a staircase of 8 locks at Béziers , a 157 metres (515 ft) tunnel, and three major aqueducts. Canal building progressed steadily in Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries with three great rivers,
13490-462: The freedom to make deliveries well away from rail lined road beds or ditches in the dirt which could not operate in the winter. The longest extant canal today, the Grand Canal in northern China, still remains in heavy use, especially the portion south of the Yellow River . It stretches from Beijing to Hangzhou at 1,794 kilometres (1,115 miles). Canals are built in one of three ways, or
13632-494: The funding had to be overseen by the Utah State Engineer, George M. Bacon, and according to his repair plan. It appears, however, that such oversight and adherence to a plan not of their making did not sit well with the board of the canal company, despite their signing off on the requirement in the loan agreement. Within a few days of starting the repair work at Drunkard’s Wash, the canal company (known at that time as
13774-518: The future Carbon County area . It was named for George W. Emery , the Utah Territory governor whose term was ending as the act was being debated. The 1880 census showed 556 people and 84 farms in Emery County, but this figure is likely short as many prominent settlers were inadvertently left off the county rolls. By 1890, the population of Emery County had risen to 2,866. Between 1880 and 1900, many significant canals were constructed, including
13916-720: The higher waters of the Charles River and the mouth of the Neponset River and the sea. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills. In Russia, the Volga–Baltic Waterway , a nationwide canal system connecting the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea via the Neva and Volga rivers, was opened in 1718. Emery County Emery County is a county in east-central Utah , United States . As of
14058-549: The load were carried by a barge on a waterway, then up to 30 tons could be drawn by the same horse. — technology historian Ronald W. Clark referring to transport realities before the industrial revolution and the Canal age . Hohokam was a society in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona , United States, and Sonora , Mexico. Their irrigation systems supported the largest population in
14200-480: The longest canal in the world today and the oldest extant one. It is 1,794 kilometres (1,115 mi) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Zhuodu ( Beijing ) and Yuhang ( Hangzhou ). The project began in 605 and was completed in 609, although much of the work combined older canals, the oldest section of the canal existing since at least 486 BC. Even in its narrowest urban sections it
14342-534: The longest one of that period being the Hong Gou (Canal of the Wild Geese), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei. The Caoyun System of canals was essential for imperial taxation, which was largely assessed in kind and involved enormous shipments of rice and other grains. By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China , still
14484-519: The mainstays of Emery County's economy for much of its history. The opening of large coal mines and the construction of large power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington in the 1970s changed the economy, and the population grew sharply. High wages in this sector initially created high average incomes, but depressed markets for coal and coalbed methane , along with improvements in mining technology, have slowed or postponed this sector for some time. As
14626-472: The maintenance and operation of the Scofield Dam. No major system upgrades appear to have been carried out on the Carbon Canal during the remainder of the historical period (i.e., up to ca. 1970). Routine maintenance and flood prevention projects were carried out, including revetment work done in 1953 at Gibbs Cut, south of the Carbon Country Club, to protect the Carbon Canal from damage. The revetments consisted of 65-pound steel rails and cedar timbers. In 1957,
14768-579: The major settlements are located; and the desert of the San Rafael Swell, the San Rafael Reef, Cedar Mountain, and the remote stretches on the east. The San Rafael River, the lifeblood of the county, originates in the Wasatch Plateau, where the headwaters are stored in several reservoirs for agricultural and industrial use. It flows into Castle Valley in three branches—Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek—which unite to form
14910-466: The mid-1950s, the region again experienced near-drought conditions. It was during this period that a water reservoir in Joes Valley was completed. Riding the crest of national economic growth during the 1970s, Emery County's population grew significantly as a result of the construction of large coal-fired power plants in Castle Dale and Huntington by Utah Power & Light Company ( PacifiCorp ) and
15052-630: The mine entrance and 1,500 ft (460 m) underground. The collapse registered recorded seismic waves in magnitude 3.9 to 4.0, by seismograph stations of the University of Utah . Emery County, the state's No. 2 coal-producing county, was also the site of a fire that killed 27 people in the Wilberg Mine in December 1984. The Green River flows southward along the east side of the county. The Price River flows southeastward through
15194-488: The needs of the limited settler population until 1883, when the Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) Railroad was completed through Utah. The railroad passed through the Price River communities on its way north through Spanish Fork Canyon and on to the Wasatch Front . The completion of the railroad transformed the communities from isolated farm towns to a booming railroad region almost overnight. The arrival of
15336-488: The northeastern corner of the county to its discharge point into the Green on the county's eastern border. The San Rafael River rises in the northwestern part of the county and cuts its way across the county's central areas before discharging into the Green, several miles south of the city of Green River. The county terrain is rough flat areas broken by mountain ranges and ridges and carved by water erosion, generally sloping to
15478-470: The northern and eastern parts of the Price community and ending several miles east of Wellington. As the new century of the 1900s dawned, area farmers had reached a tipping point—either acquire more water or forever limit agricultural production. By 1906, several representatives of the community joined together to incorporate the Carbon Canal Company (known over the years by other names). In August of that year,
15620-506: The numbers that once fueled and enabled economic growth, indeed were practically a prerequisite to further urbanization and industrialization. For the movement of bulk raw materials such as coal and ores are difficult and marginally affordable without water transport. Such raw materials fueled the industrial developments and new metallurgy resulting of the spiral of increasing mechanization during 17th–20th century, leading to new research disciplines, new industries and economies of scale, raising
15762-409: The original allocation under the loan. Bacon noted that no one involved on the canal company’s side could provide an estimate of the final cost to complete the canal section in question. Elsewhere, the canal company had commenced on the construction of a new concrete flume at Gordon Creek. Roughly one week later, on November 11, 1926, the News Advocate newspaper reported that a resolution of the dispute
15904-429: The post-war years, the county matured and modernized as modern water and sanitation systems were constructed, roads were improved, and many of the luxuries enjoyed by people in less rural areas, like telephones, reached Emery County. While many things in Emery County improved, some things did not. The agricultural sector still suffered from inconsistent water supplies and a lack of significant long-term water storage. And in
16046-604: The pre-railroad days of the industrial revolution, water transport was the gold standard of fast transportation. The first artificial canal in Western Europe was the Fossa Carolina built at the end of the 8th century under personal supervision of Charlemagne . In Britain, the Glastonbury Canal is believed to be the first post-Roman canal and was built in the middle of the 10th century to link
16188-530: The project altogether. Still needing water storage in the region, the Price River Water Conservation District (PRWCD) formed in 1921. The PRWCD oversaw the construction of the Scofield Dam between 1925 and 1926, funding it through a bonding effort. The PRWCD contracted with a number of ditch companies to deliver reservoir water through their canals. As the Carbon Canal continued to provide irrigation water to southern Carbon County and northern Emery County,
16330-410: The railroad coincided with the discovery of vast coal reserves in the area, and within a few years, the communities of the Price River bustled with hundreds of miners, railroad men, and entrepreneurs, forever changing the sleepy Mormon bergs into Utah’s mecca of ethnic and religious diversity. The arrival of the railroad and mining industries saw a concurrent increase in the general settler population of
16472-507: The railroad, but Green River, on the east county border, quickly boomed after the rails arrived. Emery County population passed 4,600 by 1900, with 450+ farms and 25,000 acres (100 km ) under cultivation. Irrigation systems were being expanded to bring new lands into production, bringing problems that would plague the region for several decades. Water rights conflicts frequently arose, and water theft , known as "midnight irrigation," became common. Most disputes were settled by decree, but
16614-420: The settlement potential of the region. With a shortage of sufficient land and water in Sanpete County and a strong desire by LDS Church leaders to acquire unoccupied land in the region before non-Mormons did, young families began moving into Castle Valley in the fall of 1877 to homestead in the future sites of Huntington, Ferron, Castle Dale, and Orangeville. In late August 1877, Brigham Young , president of
16756-550: The slave trade was illegal, the traders kept neither records of their activities nor the extent of their travels and explorations. Travelers along the Old Spanish Trail gave Castle Valley its names, as the travelers marveled at the imposing rock formations. The first Americans to come to Castle Valley were fur trappers, including the "lost trappers", James Workman and William Spencer, who had been separated from their trapping party by Comanche Indians and had wandered to
16898-497: The south and east. The county's highest point is 10,743 ft (3,274 m) ASL, in the Central Utah Plateaus on the county's main north border. The county has a total area of 4,472 square miles (11,580 km ), of which 4,462 square miles (11,560 km ) is land and 9.5 square miles (25 km ) (0.2%) is water. The Wasatch Plateau , a mountainous area, sits along the western boundary. The main population of
17040-480: The standard of living for any industrialized society. Most ship canals today primarily service bulk cargo and large ship transportation industries, whereas the once critical smaller inland waterways conceived and engineered as boat and barge canals have largely been supplanted and filled in, abandoned and left to deteriorate, or kept in service and staffed by state employees, where dams and locks are maintained for flood control or pleasure boating. Their replacement
17182-422: The state land board, and the state engineer roiled for nearly two months, as the canal company proceeded with repairs according to their own plans—ignoring those of the state engineer—and the state engineer condemning the work. State Engineer Bacon contended the work done by the canal company violated the terms of the loan agreement and jeopardized the ability of the canal to provide irrigators with reliable water in
17324-479: The sum of $ 18,000, clearing the way for the $ 51,000 loan from the state land board. The loan reportedly brought the total debt owed to the land board by the canal company to $ 118,000 (the equivalent of approximately $ 1.65 million in 2017). Repairs commenced shortly after the authorization of the loan with the Whitney-Reynolds Company selected as the contractor. The work, which included cleaning out
17466-407: The throes of a series of lawsuits over individual water rights, company water rights, and water rights priorities with a number of different parties. Much of the litigation centered around the proposed Gooseberry Project and the potential diversion of water from the Price River drainage to Sanpete County. Lawsuits over the proposed Gooseberry Project began almost as soon as the project was proposed by
17608-560: The trappers in the late 1840s and early 1850s, government explorers came to the valley seeking usable overland routes across the continent. Kit Carson was the first of these famous men. He was looking for a direct route for the mail to be carried overland from St. Louis to California. Carson carried through Castle Valley to the nation the news of gold being found in the Sierra Nevada in 1848. In 1853 John W. Gunnison , an Army Topographical Engineer came through Castle Valley, plotting
17750-563: The upcoming irrigation season. The dispute went so far as to result in Bacon withholding “the last payroll for work done” until the state land board had resolved the issue and provided him with written direction to approve the expenditure. The land board appears to have attempted to resolve the dispute by asking Bacon to adopt the canal company’s repair plan over the one he himself had developed, but Bacon had declined, presumably due to specific engineering concerns though Bacon himself would note that
17892-442: The use of the flume as a swimming location by local youth. Operations during the 1950s included at least two water use agreements entered into by the Carbon Canal Company to supply a portion of its allocated water rights in the Price River to other parties. Specifically, in 1956, the canal company entered into a water use agreement with Utah Power & Light (UP&L) to furnish water to UP&L’s power plant at Castle Gate (i.e.,
18034-573: The valley of the River Dee . Another option for dealing with hills is to tunnel through them. An example of this approach is the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal . Tunnels are only practical for smaller canals. Some canals attempted to keep changes in level down to a minimum. These canals known as contour canals would take longer, winding routes, along which the land was
18176-447: The work at Drunkard’s Wash “looks like a first class job.” As the impasse continued, the canal company had reached a point of no return in terms of physical changes to the canal. By early November, the entire original flume at Drunkard’s Wash had been demolished and the earthen embankment upon which the new concrete-lined canal would rest had been constructed. The cost for that work had already reached $ 7,000, two-thousand dollars more than
18318-424: The work done on the Drunkard’s Wash flume. The canal company board did request, however, that Bacon review, and depending on his findings, approve the work on the flume. They agreed that if Bacon did not approve the work, they would not use funding from the state land board loan to cover the cost but would, instead, raise funds with a special assessment (a fee) on the water users. Two weeks later, on November 25, 1926,
18460-423: The work sites, presumably by wagon teams or truck teams. No other information could be found regarding the initial construction of the canal. The canal was completed in 1909 and included six wooden flumes—Gordon Creek, Garley Wash, Pinnacle Wash, Drunkard’s Wash, Miller Creek, and Olsen’s Wash—and a 280-foot tunnel. The flume at Olsen’s Wash was later replaced with an undershoot. Farmers in the area then constructed
18602-503: Was 38.3 years. There were 3,535 households in Emery County with an average size of 2.78 of which 2,625 (74.3%) were families and 910 (25.7%) were non-families. Among all families, 2,168 (61.3%) were married couples , 165 (4.7%) were male householders with no spouse, and 292 (8.3%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 779 (22.0%) were a single person living alone and 131 (3.7%) were two or more people living together. 1,257 (35.6%) of all households had children under
18744-480: Was 8,811 (89.7%) White , 2 (0.0%) African American , 55 (0.6%) Native American , 36 (0.4%) Asian , 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander , 16 (0.2%) from other races , and 193 (2.0%) from two or more races . 705 (7.2%) people were Hispanic or Latino. There were 4,965 (50.53%) males and 4,860 (49.47%) females, and the population distribution by age was 2,869 (29.2%) under the age of 18, 5,187 (52.8%) from 18 to 64, and 1,769 (18.0%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age
18886-466: Was also expensive, as men expect compensation in the form of wages, room and board. This was because long-haul roads were unpaved, more often than not too narrow for carts, much less wagons, and in poor condition, wending their way through forests, marshy or muddy quagmires as often as unimproved but dry footing. In that era, as today, greater cargoes, especially bulk goods and raw materials , could be transported by ship far more economically than by land; in
19028-458: Was an option in some cases, sometimes supplemented by other methods to deal with seasonal variations in flow. Where such sources were unavailable, reservoirs – either separate from the canal or built into its course – and back pumping were used to provide the required water. In other cases, water pumped from mines was used to feed the canal. In certain cases, extensive "feeder canals" were built to bring water from sources located far from
19170-470: Was gradual, beginning first in the United States in the mid-1850s where canal shipping was first augmented by, then began being replaced by using much faster , less geographically constrained & limited, and generally cheaper to maintain railways . By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to economically compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal
19312-424: Was increasingly diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil, and growth of coal shipments leveled off. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, the last small U.S. barge canals saw a steady decline in cargo ton-miles alongside many railways, the flexibility and steep slope climbing capability of lorries taking over cargo hauling increasingly as road networks were improved, and which also had
19454-426: Was once used to describe linear features seen on the surface of Mars , Martian canals , an optical illusion. A navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river. A vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal
19596-448: Was reached. Ultimately, the newspaper stated, the canal company board would accept the repair plan outlined by Bacon and the loan requirement that all work be approved by him. The canal company board agreed not to interfere with Bacon as the work progressed, and all foremen of work crews were directed to take “orders only from the state engineer.” As a final component of the resolution, Bacon was absolved on any responsibility or liability for
19738-642: Was referred to as “the Miller Creek flume project.” The project was expected to cost $ 6,000, but the contribution of labor by the Soil Conservation Service (the modern predecessor to the Natural Resources Conservation Service) reduced the anticipated cost to users to approximately half that amount. In 1937, the Utah legislature passed a bill to address ownership of the canal. The state proposed that
19880-491: Was set at $ 4.00. In December of the following year, 1957, the canal company entered into a short-term agreement with the Shell Oil Company to provide water from their canal to the oil company’s drilling operations in the “Miller Creek Area” until the start of the 1958 irrigation season. The oil company was to receive 1 acre foot of water per day for the daily rate of $ 20.00. The 1960s saw the Carbon Canal Company in
20022-457: Was supplemented by water from the Price Canal, a 5.5-mile extension of which was completed into Wellington the same year as the completion of the Carbon Canal and irrigated lands north of the river. Because the Price Canal had many diversions and water users along its route to Wellington, the water supply was often lower than anticipated—upstream users having used more water than their allocated water right. The first major effort to impound water on
20164-441: Was to be located roughly 4 miles north of Price. The water right granted to the Carbon Canal Company provided for agricultural water use through the system between April 1 and September 30 each year “to irrigate 7,973.46 acres of land…” The certificate also allowed the company to divert up to 25 cfs from October 1 and March 31 each year for “domestic and culinary purposes” as well as the winter watering of domestic livestock. Work on
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