POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN, Utah, April 25, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Local water officials literally opened the floodgates Tuesday to send 50 million gallons of extra spring runoff per day to the Great Salt Lake.
A collaboration between Wasatch Front conservation districts and water users associations has made it possible for extra runoff from Utah’s record snowpack that normally would flow to Utah Lake to be redirected through a spillway to the Jordan River and into the Great Salt Lake.
“This project required a tremendous amount of creative thinking to make the most of the gift that Mother Nature gave us with this year’s historic snowpack,” said Gene Shawcroft, Central Utah Water Conservancy District general manager. “It helps get water to the Great Salt Lake and relieves flooding that could occur on the Provo River system if the water melts extremely fast.”
The water diversion at Point of the Mountain is expected to continue “for the next few weeks, dependent on runoff levels,” according to a news release from the water conservancy district.
The amount of water being diverted to the Great Salt Lake daily is enough to supply 150 homes with water for about a year, CUWCD officials said.
To make the diversion possible, Wasatch Front water partners had to navigate historic water rights agreements and logistical issues of moving water through existing pipelines and aqueduct systems built decades ago.
“This effort is really 90 years in the making,” said Jeff Budge, operations and engineering manager for the Provo River Water Users Association, a partner in the project.
“Decades ago, men and women had the vision and saw the need to get water to people living on the Wasatch Front,” added Alan Packard, general manager of the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. “We are benefitting today from the infrastructure they put in place.”
Diverting the extra runoff into the Great Salt Lake also frees up storage space in Deer Creek Reservoir, which local water officials say will be needed as the weather warms and the snow melts.
Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, celebrated the collaborative effort and called on Utahns to do their part by conserving water.
“This wasn’t something that was easy to do. It takes real leadership to step up to find ways to send water to the Great Salt Lake,” Schultz said. “But government can’t solve this problem. We all have to come together to reduce our water use to make sure we have a continued dedicated water source.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy also collaborated on the project.
