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Show Ccntrtil Utah Water Project Series to Explain Impact Of Central Utah Project (This is the first of a series of six stories on the Central Utah Project, a major multi-purpose water . resource project authorized by Congress as part of the Colorado River Storage Act in 1956.) The Central Utah Project Water has always been a valuable commodity in Utah, the second driest state in the nation. Even the earliest accounts of Utah history emphasize the scarcity of water. When the pioneers entered Utah, their initial activities centered around the conservation and careful use of limited wtaer resources. They built dams and irrigated the parched desert valleys to grow the food they needed. With water being so scarce, a fact that is hard to believe to many people living along the lush green Wasatch Front, community decision-makers recognized years ago the need for a complete program of conservation. The Central Utah Project, a massive water resource project, is a culmination of over 50 years of research, planning, water agreements, compacts and apportionments to help 12 Utah counties solve their water needs. The project encompasses tunnels, aqueducts, dams, reservoirs and pipelines and a complex network of water rights and environmental considerations to solve a simple basic need for water through 2020. Not only is water scarce in Utah, but what little there is remains in the mountains in the form of snow during winter months, then rushes down the streams In a torrent only three months of the year. Some of it is stored, much of it flows out of the state. Antiquated water storage plans designed before Utah was one quarter of the population it is today are now being put to rest with the "Prepare for tomorrow" plans in the Central Utah Project. The Central Utah Project recognizes that the key to wise water management in Utah is to capture and store in reservoirs destructive spring run-off then release the water down streams in regulated amounts throughout the year. Water that now flows down the streams of the Uinta Mountains as spring run-off and out of the state will through the Central Utah Project be diverted to Uinta Basin and Wasatch Front where it is desperately needed for a burgeoning population. This water will then be made available for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses. In addition to the better usage of Utah's water supply, the Central Utah Project will provide flood protection, new recreation areas serving hiking, boating and fishing enthusiasts while providing pollution-free hydroelectric power. For planning the development the project has been divided into six units: the now completed Vernal unit, Jensen unit, Upalco unit, Uintah unit, Bonneville unit and the Ute Indian unit. The gigantic undertaking is being constructed by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and being administrated by the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. The project is being built through federally appropriated funds of which 91 percent will be repaid by Utahns through water sales, tax revenues and electric power revenues. Nonreimbursable cost consists of recreation, fish and wildlife, flood control and related costs which provide benefits to the general public. |