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Show DIXIE PROJECT, UTAH 15 ment storage, for incidental flood control, and for the generation of power. The Virgin po werplant located at the Virgin City Dam would have an installed capacity of 5,600 kilowatts. The Hurricane division main canal would have a total" length of about 26 miles including Hurricane and Warner Tunnels, the combined length of which would be slightly over 4 miles. The Hurricane Canal would deliver a firm supply of water to 7,885 acres of presently irrigated lands and some 9,250 acres of new lands located in the Hurricane, Bench Lake, Berry Springs Flat, Warner Valley, Fort Pierce Wash, and Washington Fields areas. It would also supply water for operation of Bench Lake and Warner powerplants at drops along the canal. These powerplants would have a combined installed capacity of 7,600 kilowatts. ; };:. The plan of development also includes provision for up to 5,000 acre- feet of water for municipal and industrial uses for the city of St. George, Utah. : In the Santa Clara division, the lower Gunlock Dam and Eeservoir, located on the Santa Clara Eiver, would provide a total storage capacity at normal water surface elevation of 23,745 acre- feet, of which approximately 10,000 acre- feet would be for sediment storage and flood control. A minimum pool of 500 acre- feet would be maintained for fish and wildlife and recreation purposes. The Santa Clara division does not include any provision for the generation of power. The conservation storage in lower Gunlock Reservoir would provide a firm water supply to irrigate 1,560 acres of presently irrigated land, and to irrigate 2,365 acres of new land located in the Santa Clara and Ivins Bench areas. The existing St. George and Santa Clara Bench irrigation canal would be enlarged, extended, and completely rehabilitated. " The 9,445 acres of presently irrigated land in both divisions now possess natural flow water rights. Water rights for the 11,615 acres of new land and for municipal arid industrial uses would be established under Utah State law. The Bureau of Reclamation has been assured by Utah that necessary water rights will be granted to permit conservation of both natural and flood discharges for project uses. The water supply for the Dixie project would be obtained from the Virgin River arid a tributary, the Santa Clara River, both of which are tributaries of Lake Mead and the lower Colorado River. The average annual discharge of the Virgin River at Littlefield, downstream from the project boundaries, under present conditions is about 178,000 acre- feet per year. Under Dixie project conditions, the estimated discharge would be about 117,000 acre- feet, or an increase in net depletion of the stream of about 61,000 acre- feet. Included in the depletion is a proposed transmountain diversion from the basin of about 8,000 acre- feet annually to provide municipal water to Cedar City and vicinity in an adjacent drainage basin. The remaining flow in the stream is sufficient in quantity to meet the existing downstream irrigation requirements in Arizona and Nevada. Dixie project operations would result in some increase in salinity in the waters available for downstream use. However, the legislation and the project plan contemplate that this water will be of suitable quality for irrigation purposes and that the economy of the downstream areas will not be adversely affected by the project operations. |
