Interior Approves Construction of Utah Lake Water Delivery System for Wasatch Front Area

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Department of the Interior has approved the construction of a Utah Lake water-delivery system that includes tow new hydropower plants, five pipelines and major conservation initiatives to serve Utah's fastest growing communities. Tom Weimer, Interior's acting assistant secretary for Water and Science, today signed the Record of Decision, selecting this version of the project.

The Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System, as it is formally known, will delivery Central Utah Project water from Strawberry Reservoir to the Wasatch Front Area, provide water to generate electricity in the Diamond Fork System, carry out water conservation measures, and provide minimum stream flows in the Provo River and Hobble Creek.

The system includes the 1)Sixth Water hydropower plant, 2)Upper Diamond Fork hydropower plant, 3)Spanish Fork Canyon pipeline, 4)Spanish Fork-Santaquin pipeline, 5)Santaquin-Mona Reservoir pipeline, 6)Mapleton-Springville Lateral pipeline, and 7)Spanish Fork-Provo Reservoir Canal pipeline.

When completed, the system will deliver an annual average of 101,900 acre-feet of Central Utah Project water. Of that amount, 30,000 acre-feet will be delivered to Salt Lake County water treatment plants, 31,590 acre-feet to southern Utah County secondary water systems, and 40,310 acre-feet to Utah Lake as an exchange for water stored in Jordanelle Reservoir. Interior will also acquire 57,000 acre-feet of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District's water rights in Utah Lake as additional Jodanelle exchange water.

The Record of Decision also directs Interior's local representatives to work with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District and Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to construct and operate the system. The joint lead agencies for the project are Interior, the District and the Commission.

The 1992 Central Utah Project Completion Act authorizes congressional appropriations (federal funds) for construction of the Utah Lake system with additional cost-sharing by the District.

The system approved by the Record of Decision is based on Interior's Proposed Action Alternative, described in the Utah Lake System Final Environmental Impact Statement. It is known as the Spanish Fork Canyon-Provo Reservoir Canal Alternative. The Proposed Action Alternative is also Interior's Environmentally Preferable Alternative.

For more information concerning the Utah Lake System Record of Decision, please contact Reed Murray, U.S. Department of the Interior, 302 East 1860 South, Provo, Utah 84606-6154, or telephone him at (801) 379-1237. The Utah Lake System Final Environmental Impact Statement is available online through www.cuwcd.com

Record of Decision (PDF Format)