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Show SEVIER RIVER Just as installation of sprinkler systems has dominated water conservation in Wayne County, so has canal lining made a major contribution to efficiency of water use in the area of Millard County surrounding Delta. Nearby at Oak City, the first circle sprinkler irrigation unit set a pattern for many more to follow in other sections of Utah. Another major water conservation structure in the region is the " D. M. A. D." regulating reservoir. One of the largest canal lining projects ever financed by the Board of Water Resources was scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1978 for the Melville Irrigation Company. It was constructed in phases since the fall of 1974. Canal system capacity ranges from 175 cubic feet of water per second down to 15 cfs. The web of canals stretches about eight and a half miles. The project eliminated four miles of parallel - 20 DISTRICT and duplicate earth canal, brought an end to vegetative growth and mosquito breeding problems in the old unlined canals and saves 1,550 acre- feet of precious water previously lost every year to seepage. Lined canal size diminishes from five feet deep and 21 feet wide at the top to 28 inches deep and 74 inches wide at the top. Millard County Road Department helped finance a bonus benefit from the project. It eliminated an earth canal adjacent to a section of road. The road became particularly treacherous in the winter months when many vehicles slipped into the canal before Division of Water Resources engineers devised a means of eliminating that section of canal. The 64,000 acre- feet of water saved in Millard County provides supplemental water for 105,000 acres of primary supply for 3,100 acres of new land. |