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Show Graraf deceived for Mime $tiw$y On Mill Creek Protect Hem fere The long hoped-for Mill Creek Project, a water and flood control project, which would involve a dam and reservoir in Mill Creek east of Moab, moved mov-ed a big step closer to reality this week. Chairman K. E. Mc-Dougald Mc-Dougald of the Grand County Water Conservancy Conservan-cy District, stated that he had received word from Gordon E. Harm-ston, Harm-ston, director of the Department De-partment of Natural Resources Re-sources of the State of Utah, that Grand County had been given a Four Corners Commission grant for $4b,uuu to apply ap-ply on work to do final site study work in engineering, en-gineering, preliminary to full funding of the project pro-ject by the U. S. Corps of Army Engineers. "Without the final site study, we couldn't go any further in getting the project pro-ject funded," Mr. McDou-gald McDou-gald said. He indicated that the Four Corners' Commission grant, to be formally approved on December 16, would be supplemented by $1500 in State and $3500 in local money to pay for the projected pro-jected $50 thousand in engineering work. "Mr. Harmston told us that Gov. Calvin Rampton had placed our application in a priority position for technical assitance mon-, ey from the Four Corners Cor-ners Commission," Mc-Dougald Mc-Dougald stated. The local chairman indicated in-dicated that as soon as the funding is formally approved next month, a contract will be awarded to an engineering firm to do the actual site study work. "We expect that the work can be completed com-pleted during the winter and spring months, so that we can go to work on full funding of the project pro-ject by next summer," he said. The Mill Creek Project would involve the construction con-struction of a large earth-filled earth-filled dam in Mill Creek just east of Moab Valley which would create a large reservoir to insure "down-stream" water requirements of the creek. A diversion of water from Mill Creek Canyon could then be made in upper Spanish Valley, and on South Mesa, to bring under cultivation cul-tivation considerable new acreage available there. "The project has feasibility feasi-bility benefits in aeri- cultural production, in flood control and of course in recreation," the chairman said. The project has been studied for nearly, half a century by various agencies, agen-cies, but it was not until a year or two ago, under the direction of the Grand County Water Conservancy Conser-vancy District and the Utah Division of Water Resources, that it appeared ap-peared the project had much of a chance for success. Now, with the new work . done in planning, plan-ning, and the promise of construction assistance from the Corps of Engineers, En-gineers, the hoDes loc- ally for the project are very positive. Studies are currently underway on test agricultural' agri-cultural' plots in various locations in Spanish Valley, Val-ley, to determine the best use of water on certain types of crops, so that the optimum amount of new land can be brought under cultivation. |