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Show Emery County Tuesday, April 30 Cents 25, 1989 Volume90 No. 17 April showers didnt happen March and April posed to be Emery are supCountys wettest months. April showers are supposed to bring the flowers that bloom in May. April showers are also supposed to add snow to the mountain snowpack and soak up the mountain so when the snow melts in May, it will run off and fill area streams and reservoirs. This year the April showers forgot to come. Instead, it has been unusually hot; dry and windy. So far, Emery County has received no moisture at all, and it is going down as the driest April on record. No one seems to remember the last time it rained. The dryness, coupled with warm, windy weather, has depleted the winter snow pack. Snotel measurements on the San Rafael and Muddy River drainages show that a very early and rapid snowmelt has occurred. The Snotel sites are at or near the e record lows. The snow levels all-tim- are presently where they would normally be at the end of May. On April 20, the Snotel site at Dills Camp on the Muddy drainage reported zero inches of water. This is a new e minimum for that site and date. The Red Pine Ridge snow course is used for the best indicator for the Hunting-to- n all-tim- River and Joes Valley Reservoir. On April 20, the Snotel site was reporting a total water content of just 3.8 e low at inches. The this time is three inches. The average water content is about 16 inches. In other words, there is about 25 percent of normal snow pack. all-tim- summer water supply depends heavily on the accumulated snow in the mounThe tains to melt and produce water. Without the snow, consumers dont get the water. The most disturbing fact about the early snowmelt that has occurred, according to Castle Valley Special Service District (CVSSD) officials, is that it has not produced any significant runoff. The moisture is seeping into the ground and evaporating. The stream flows have increased only slightly, and the reservoirs are not filling. Water shortages are already beginning to appear. The secondary irrigation systems at Cleveland and Elmo had to be shut off last week because of a lack of water. The Huntington secondary irrigation storage pond is almost empty, and that system may also have to be shut down, according to officials at CVSSD who are currently trying to refill the ponds at Cleveland and Elmo and restart the systems. However, running out of water may be a common problem throughout this year. Castle Dale city and Orangeville city have taken strict measures to limit the secondary irrigation watering hours and have placed users on turns to try to conserve water. Other towns are expected to follow suit in placing the irrigation systems on turns. Darrel Leamaster, CVSSD manager, has reported that record amounts of secondary water have been used in April He attributes this to the extremely dry conditions of the lawns and yards and the hot windy weather. The high usage, coupled with a short supply in the streams, has resulted in the shortages. All of the cities own and lease large quantities of water shares. These shares entitle the cities to a percentage of the stream flow. However, when the stream flow is low, the cities percentage of the water is not sufficient to meet all of the needs and a shortage results. Officials expect the water shortages throughout the summer to be as serious as they were in 1977. They also expect that before the summer is over, water rationing and conservation measures will be necessary. People need to know that the unusual conditions have put the county into a drought situation. Citizens need to be careful about planting new lawns and large gardens because of the impending shortages. Everyone will need to practice water conservation. Citizens must also understand that the solution is not to water out of the culinary water systems. The same water shortages will affect the culinary water system as well as the secondary systems, CVSSD officals warn. This whole shortage situation has developed extremely quickly. Two or three weeks ago the Snotel sites were reporting snow levels at close to or slightly below average. Within a short period of time, the snow has rapidly melted away and left area residents looking at serious water shortages for the rest of the year. Lets hope that mother nature cooperates by sending moisus some ture, Mr. Leamaster said. much-neede- i RSVP honors L' group vv The 16th Annual Recognition Banquet for the Emery County Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) was held at the Castle Dale Stake Center April 21. The many volunteers who have served in the RSVP program were honored. As part of the program, guests each wore a different hat, representing the many hats that RSVP members wear as part of their volunteer work. Each of the volunteers came forth during the program to explain what their hats represented. Many of the hats were made especially for the program. Welcoming the volunteers to the banquet was Emery County Commissioner Duane Collard who also offered the proclamation. Awards were presented by Larry Heaton, RSVP chairman; Carolyn Randall, RSVP director; and commissioner Collard. The program also included entertainment by the ComBac Puppeteers and the Emery High Spardettes. Volunteers in the local RSVP program gave more than 30,000 hours of service last year. They served in the i j(. ''0 ,.v t - JL ft. t Emery County receives court funds .ft A , j I j4 M By S.K. DAVIS Staff writer Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk presented to the county commission a statement of reimbursement from the State Court Administrators Office to Emery County in the amount of $112, 838, 00 for district and circuit court services for the 1989-9fiscal year as e for two payment for and $34,324 employees The came in action the space. county commission meeting 0 full-tim- April 19. Karen Truman, Emery ' aXii Looking over the program at the RSVP banquet last week are volunteers, left to right, Bertha Peterson of Castle Dale, Maggie and Nels Hansen of Emery. The volunteers were honored for following areas: Castle Dale Senior Center; Emery County Nursing Home; Resident Vol- Orangeville Love iir ilifft iifc ,,4 7 tUL V. ft-" ft ft At contributing over 30,000 hours of service to the county. Each of the guests wore a unique hat which represented the many hats photo wsk.d volunteers in the RSVP program wear. Line; Cleveland Love Line; Elmo Love Line; Cottonwood Elementary School; Hunting-unteer- Rhythm Band; Emery Friend- Center; Community Ser- RSVP Office; Genealogy s; ton Senior Center; RSVP Library; Bookmobile; Green River Senior Center; Depart-shi- p ment of Social Services; nomic Development Agency; and Ferron Senior Center. Eco-vice- s; School district makes grant application By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress editor HUNTINGTON Last week Emery County School District officials were involved in preparing a grant application to the U.S. Department of Education for $600,000. lathe school board meeting held Thursday, April 20 at Canyon View Junior High School, Superintendent A. Ernest Weeks reported on the application and gave copies of it to board members. He said that if the grant is approved by the Department of Education, it will bring from $200,000 to $600,000 to the local school district for use in science, math and computer science programs. However, he pointed out that there are only 10 grants available nationwide and that historically the any-whe- re d grants have gone to urban schools. This is the first time a rural district has applied, he said. We are hoping the federal government will consider the needs of the rural areas. Should the funds come to Emery County, they will be used in setting up the new science addition which the school has funded through a loan from the Community Impact Board. Dr. Weeks said in the meeting that funds for that facility may not be available until August 1989 which could set the projected completion date back slightly. Also, he added that if the federal grant is approved, it will help local efforts to enhance the vocational programs in the school as well as the telecommunication courses now being offered at Green River. These same courses could then be introduced to Emery High, he said. Dr. Weeks said that the funds, should they be approved, will come over a period. As a result, the first phase would involve planning while the second ar would involve imple- mentation. This is a significant move for rural America, he said. If it is approved, it will revolutionize the secondary system as we know it. We think that it is unique enough that our changes are good. Well know in July. The application needs to be completed by April 28 and must then be approved on the state level before going to the U.S. Department of Education for consideration. Also included in the super intendents report to the board was a discussion of buses. Dr. Weeks reminded the board that recent concerns have been raised regarding the safety of buses built before 1977. He said that the district presently has one bus of origin and recompre-197- 7 mended that the district remove that bus from its fleet and put it up for sale. The board agreed, and unanimously voted to sell the bus. Dr. Weeks also told the board that Valerie Harrison, home economics teacher from Green River High School, is resigning and that position is now available. lie also said that there is an opening in the district for a bus driver. Ralph Worthen was named the dis- who is now a full-tim- It was announced by the superintendent that Barry Bishop of San Rafael Junior High has been named the Utah Teacher of the Year by the Utah PTA. In other action, the board approved a request to send Mary B. Grange, supervisor of the district school lunch programs, to a convention in Orlando, Fla. in July at a cost of $1,013. Dr. Weeks told the board that efforts are being made to bring nationally-recognizespeakers to Emery County for d teachers Cheryl Keener; Richard Snowball, seasonal weed and mosquito worker; and Laree Dye, library yard service and maintenance. Also the following personel changes: Teresa Manzanares changed from full to part-tim- e secretary in the county attorneys office; Leslie D. Reese changed from a grade 5 step 1 to a grade 5 step 2 with a merit increase in wages. teacher. e County auditor, presented the following personnel actions to the commission on April 19: new hire for the assessors position in Green River, institute at the tricts substitute teacher, beginning of each school year. However, he said that the most renowned speakers are booked years in advance and are difficult to schedule. As a result, he suggested replacing Marty Prettyman (Continued on Page 12) Maughan Guymon, director of Division of Aging, asked the commisssion if he could be of assistance with Community Service Block Grant monies by way of emergency assistance to residents in Emery County. The commission asked him to make a proposal to the state. Keith Ware reported to the commission that the Emery County Farmers Union Telephone Association Inc. is pro- ceeding with the installation of the cable work, equipment and latest software to incorporate the system in the parts of the county that it serves. He also expressed the desire t6 make the Green RivE-9- er and Huntington areas aware through the Public Ser- vice Commission of the hope that they would also decide to (Continued on Page 5) |