OCR Text |
Show constituting the entire flow in certain reaches of the river channel in Heber Valley and near Prove Utah Power & Light Company also holds rights to divert all winter flows up to Kkj. second- feet at their Olmsted Diversion Dam. This dewaters a reach of the river from the diversion dam to the powerplant tailrace at the mouth of the canyon. Deer Creek Reservoir, constructed under the Provo River Project in the 19^ 0' s, is filled by importing winter and high runoff flows to the Provo River from the Weber and Duchesne Rivers through the Weber- Provo Diversion Canal and Duchesne Tunnel, respectively. This causes greater than natural flows in the upper reaches of the river above Deer Creek Dam. The transfer of Provo River Project water in Utah Lake upstream to Deer Creek Reservoir by exchange results in reduced natural flows in the Deer Creek Reservoir to Utah Lake reach of the river during the relatively short period when the exchange is being accomplished. Increased late summer release of Provo River Project storage water, which is used for municipal, industrial, and irrigation needs in Utah and Salt Lake Counties, however, has increased the total annual flow of the river below Deer Creek Dam above natural conditions. Future operation of the Provo River Project without the Bonneville Unit is expected to follow the pattern established during the past years. Periods of above normal flow would continue in the section of the river above Deer Creek Reservoir, due to the importation of water from the Weber and Duchesne River systems. During the late summer and fall season sections of the river in the Heber Valley area and between the mouth of Provo Canyon and Utah Lake would continue to be dewatered by irrigation diversions, as they have in the past. In years of excessively high runoff sections of the river both above and below Deer Creek Reservoir would experience flooding conditions. Spanish Fork River System Rights to the use of waters of the Spanish Fork River, the second largest surface water supply to Utah Valley, are based on the 1899 McCarty decree and subsequent applications to the Utah State Engineer to appropriate, change, and exchange water. In 176 |