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Show New Water System To Be Built At Boulder Oxer twenty years ago the State Board of Health condemn-ul the '.Boulder Creek for culinary use by the little town of Boulder. At the head of this creek Is Der Lnko which has rapidly become one of southern Utahs favorite fishing spots. Because of sportsmen camping on the creek and discarding do-brls In the stream, the water became contaminated for doraes-Ic purpose. Boulder has been using water "from Boulder Creek as It runs past their ranches In open lrrlgatlon'flltch-es for culinary use. Somo divert the water Into small cisterns and allow It toeettle before us-Ing but many are etlM using the water In bucketfulls from tho ditch. Boulder Is one of the more Isolated villages in Utah. Its nearest neighbors are Escalante and 0 rover valleys which are 30 miles from It and the nearest railroad is 150 miles. East of the town tor 200 miles no one lives. It Is In the extreme east-tern part of Garfield County. Its elevation Is 667C feet, with an abundance ot clear water. It Is a good grazing country and thousands of head ot cattle are raised there. It was settled by rtockmtn from Sevier and Wayne Counties mainly, although John King from Fillmore took cattle In 66 years ago. Boulder Is about 600 square miles of the roughest country In the state. The standard terms for measurement seem lnapprop. Hate In this case as most of the landscape seems to stand on end and defy surveyors' Instruments.. In 1949, acting upon the re- comiajdatlons of the tate Board jjf Health, the community elected a committee of three Mrs. Irene King, Ralph Thatcher and Lester Baker to In vestigate the possibility of getting tlnaocal and engineering assistance. On January 18,1950 they applied to the Farmers Hcnio Administration for a loan, An extensive study was made, and on August 30, 1950 report sentatlves of the Farm Home Administration recommended to the people that the cheapest source of supply would be to drill wells for water as springs suitable for culinary use were at leat.t two and one- half mile from the community. In October of 1950 Bishop Lcland Haws reported that the Church ot Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would pay halt of the cost of well drilling If they drilled on church property and could obtain at least two bids from well drillers. Two years later, on September 25, 1962, the committee in. ' formed county supervisor June S. Barron that they were only able to solicit one bid. Also, an Investigation revealed that they did not have sufficient electrical power for pumping water after wells were drilled. Tht well drilling plan was abandoned and new cost estimates and engineering feasibility were sought for the use ot the Jepp-aen springs two and one-half miles north of the townslte. The springs would be collected Into a standard pipe heading box. From the pipe heading box steel pipe would convey the water to a 40,000 gallon storage reservoir located near the townslte As the proposed system proved feasible, a loan was approved. From September 25, 1952 until November 16, 1956, the newly formed Boulder Farmstead Water Company, with Lester Baker, president, and Mrs. Irene Kin as secretary, labor ed unceasingly to obtain water rights, title to land and easements for the twelve mile distribution system. The system will serve approximately 39 families, church and school. According to Mr. Barron, as the Pangultch County office of the Farmers Home Admlnistra- ,)UoniCloiKl.thnouldt.ilotai., new precedence probably un-qualed in the United States was set, that of making a loan to every community in the coun ty, with the exception or two, i, for culinary water systems. Only Escalante and Pangultch did . not obtain culinary systems , through assistance of the Farm- . , ers Heme Administration, However, Escalante Is the location or the S175.000 storage reservoir and Pangultch has an Irrigation company loan, both obtained through the Farmers Home Administration. |