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Show . .uv 4D FOCUS May 15-M- ay water Conserving for the Weber Basin By Nan Chalat 24 hours a day, ten days in a row, Owen Dugdale is on call at the Wanship Dam. Three times a day for twelve years he has checked each gauge regulating the flow of water from the Weber River through countless irrigation canals and through his power plant. He has polished and oiled each brass fitting on the turbine so that it resembles file immaculate inner workings of a giant dock, and for all of his diligence he can boast to only having been off the line once due to equipment breakdown. The Weber River is a critical lifeline which originates in the Uintas and flows through numerous rural valleys before emptying into Willard Bay north of Ogden. Enroute to its ultimate destination the Weber provides irrigation for crops, culinary water for towns and recreational waters for travelers. At the northern end of Rockport Reservoir in Wanship its flow generates 35,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per day which is pumped into the booster station at Kimball's Junction in Park City. Just below the dam at the gates to the power plant the sound of roaring water is almost deafening. The river is nearing high water and the skys are still threatening rain. It is tempting to glance back at the dam to make sure that it is not leaking but Owen Dugdale who has just arrived to open the gate provides assurance that the structure which stands 156 feet high and 75 feet deep at its base is absolutely solid. The dam was completed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1957 and the Bureau returns to check its work twice a year. An elaborate system of pressure gauges built into the rock allows them to record any movement of the structure, a reassuring thought not only to the dozen families who inhabit the fertile valley just below the dam (in what is left of the old town of Rockport) but to us as we make our way down to the tunnel which will take us under the reservoir. Dugdale works for the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District which is based in Logan but he takes his orders from the State Water Commissioner. Each morning he receives specific instructions based on state; wide water levels as to how many cubic feet per second he can release. Dugdale then sets about adjusting gauges and checking existent pressure readings. Every reading down to the quarter of an hour is recorded day in and day out and stored for three years. According to Mr. Dugdale he has a pretty good job. That is after he got the plant in a condition he could work around and to this caretaker that means that everything down to the last oil can is clean and in its proper place. The Turbine itself is an outdated machine imported from London. Its obsolescence however lends a sort of beauty to the plant. Perhaps this is Dugdales influence showing through for his care is apparent in every gleaming reflection of the machines bolts and wheels and pipes. Plumbing deeper into the depths of the mysteries of water rights into the west Owen leads us down a vertical ladder to the 85" pipe which feeds the station. The pipe is protected by hand painted coat of tar, minerals stain the weep holes but the tunnel is kept surprisingly dry by a constant stream of compressed air. Here is where Dugdale met his greatest challenge when he took the job as caretaker 12 years ago. By his account the tunnel was a mess and leakages threatened to corrode the very pipe upon which the whole system depended. It took nearly three years to dean out the tunnel and recoat the pipe. Dugdale walks the tunnel each day on his solitary rounds to check the staff ' gauges beneath the reservation. He explains that he took the job in order to stay closer to home. He had gained a great deal of electrical experience working for the 21, 1980 |