Central Utah Water Conservancy District repayment contract, Bonneville Unit, Central Utah Project

Page 69

had no valid water right. After many days of study, dozens of meetings with the Governor, State Engineer, and other State officials, it was concluded that it would be to the best interest of the local Duchesne River water users in the State of Utah and the United States if new water right applications were filed to cover the lands irrigated without a water right and then subsequently file a new water right application for the Bonneville Unit. Under this approach, presently irrigated lands would obtain a water right prior to the Central Utah Project water right and all of the 5 second-foot rights would be rejected by the State Engineer. Local fear of Project application No. 18043 would be removed. At the appropriate time the United States filed water right application No. 36639. The purpose of this application is to appropriate up to 500,000 acre-feet of water from the Strawberry and Duchesne Rivers for storage in Starvation Reservoir and from the sources along the Strawberry Aqueduct for storage in Strawberry Reservoir. Upper Stillwater and Currant Creek Reservoirs are to be built along the Strawberry Aqueduct to regulate the stream flow for diversion into the aqueduct. The application covers reservoirs and points of diversions in the Ulrica Basin and in the Bonneville Basin. It also covers the lands to be irrigated and other water uses in both basins. This application was filed in December of 1964 and was approved by the State Engineer June 17, 1965. Shortly after the rejection of the 5 second-foot rights in 1965, eight law suits were filed in the Fourth Judicial District Court against the State Engineer by the Duchesne River water users represented by Attorney Ed Skeen. Subsequently, Mr. Skeen and a committee representing the Duchesne water users met with representatives of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. The Duchesne users requested that the District intervene to help settle the 5 second-foot water right problem reflected in the pending law suits. They requested that the District and the United States recognize an additional 1700 acres of land ahead of the Bonneville Unit in water right priority. The District representatives have since worked with Mr. Skeen to try and develop an agreement for recognition of the stipulated 1700 acres of land. If such an agreement is consummated (subject to approval of the United States), it is intended the law suits would be dropped and the balance of the lands covered by the 5 second-foot filings would not receive a water right prior to the project. Contracts, Agreements, and Water Notices The Duchesne River Area Study Committee concluded that successful operation of the Bonneville and Duchesne segments of the Central Utah Project's initial phase depended upon an agreement by the Indians to limit the irrigation of Indian owned and Indian water right land to about 20,700 acres. There are about 15,500 acres of additional arable Indian land within the Duchesne area that could be irrigated. The committee recommended that irrigation of these lands would be deferred pending development of the ultimate phase of the Central Utah Project (Uintah and Ute Indian Units). 11