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- Sanpete Project
Sanpete Project
State: Utah
Region: Upper Colorado Basin Region
Related Documents
Sanpete Project History (48 KB)
Related Facilities
Related Links
San Rafael River near Green River, Utah (USGS)
Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region Water Operations
Reclamation Water Information System
Mountain Snowpack Maps for Colorado, Rio Grande, and Arkansas Rivers
Palmer Drought Index Map
Explanation of the Palmer Drought Index
General
The Sanpete Project in central Utah includes the Ephraim Division near Ephraim and the Spring City Division in the vicinity of Spring City. Facilities constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation are the Ephraim and Spring City Tunnels. Water made available through these works is conveyed to project lands by privately constructed canals and laterals. The project furnishes a supplemental irrigation water supply to 7,661 acres in the Ephraim Division, and 7,085 acres in the Spring City Division.
History
The settlement of the county was first attempted when an invitation to settlers was extended by Indian Chief Walker on June 14, 1849. In response to this invitation, 50 families from Salt Lake City were sent to Sanpete County in the fall of 1849. The Indians, however, regretted their solicitations for settlers and tension between the two groups finally resulted in the Blackhawk War, which continued until 1868. Following the war, settlers returned to the Sanpete Valley. After the town of Ephraim was incorporated in February 1868, growth was rapid, aided by the completion of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1890, and the Sanpete Railroad in 1893. Spring City was settled in 1850 by 15 families from Salt Lake City, but they were forced to leave in 1854 because of conflicts with the Indians. A new settlement was started in 1859 but was abandoned in 1866 until peace with the Indians was established. The town was incorporated in 1870.
Construction
Construction of the Ephraim Tunnel began in 1935; the Spring City Tunnel was started in 1937. The feeder canals were constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps forces during 1934-1935. All construction work in connection with the tunnels and feeder canals was completed by September 1939. The project has benefited the livestock industry and has considerably stabilized irrigation for 188 farms comprising 14,746 acres. A substantial part of the yield would not have been possible without the supplemental water supply furnished by the project. Principal crops are alfalfa, wheat, barley, oats, and pasture. This transmountain diversion not only alleviated the threat of drought, which periodically hampered livestock and agricultural pursuits, but also increased the production of forage crops. Citizens of Ephraim and Spring City Utah were facing tough times in the 1930s. Not only did the yearly water shortage occur, but the Great Depression further impacted the price of agricultural goods and livestock, the mainstays of the region`s economy. Previously, some enterprising individuals considered bringing water over the divide to meet the needs of the towns, but these enterprises were too costly and they were abandoned. The decision to create the Public Works Administration to put people back to work and to increase construction offered a way for Utah to build a number of public water projects, including the Sanpete project which would bring water from across the divide and improve the lives of some residents of Sanpete Valley. The Sanpete project is located in Sanpete Valley in central Utah, between the Wasatch and Gunnison plateaus of the Grand River Basin. Ephraim and Spring City are located approximately fifty miles south of Provo and east of the Wasatch range. Additional towns in the Sanpete Valley which also needed a larger water supply included Mount Pleasant, Moroni, and Fairview. Ephraim and Spring City tunnels are located about 10,000 feet above sea-level, with Ephraim about 16 miles east of its tunnel; and Spring City Tunnel is 12 miles north of Ephraim Tunnel and 13 miles east of Spring City. In 1930, Spring City`s population numbered 992 persons, while Ephraim had 1,966 persons. Since farming had already reached the limits of irrigation, any increases were delayed until additional sources of water could be discovered or transported into the area.1 Native American settlement of the Sanpete Valley consisted of the Sanpits band of the Ute tribe. This particular group did not adopt a horse-riding pattern and generally subsisted on small game. Exploration of the area by non-indigenous people included the Francisco Atanasio Dominguez-Silvestre Velez de Escalante expedition of the 1770s, Jedidiah Strong Smith during the 1820s, and John C. Fremont in 1843-1844. Initially American fur trappers and mountain men roamed the area, but during the late 1840s, the Mormons began arriving in Utah.2 Mormon colonization of the region occurred when the Ute Chief Wakara (Walker) invited them to settle in the valley. About fifty families moved to an area around the San Pitch river in June 1849. The Deseret legislature created Sanpete county in December, but later reduced its size in February 1852. Early friendship quickly turned sour as the Indians came to believe they had made a mistake by encouraging Mormon settlement there. As tensions increased during the 1850s, simple harassment turned to intermittent warfare and ultimately led to the Utes participating in the Black Hawk war until 1868, during which time Mormon settlers fled the valley.3 After hostilities ended, the Mormons began resettling the Sanpete Valley in 1868. Early farmers relied on irrigation to provide sufficient water for their crops. Simple irrigation systems, which used water from the San Pitch river and its tributaries, served the regions irrigation needs fairly well until the turn of the century. Increased settlement resulted in overdevelopment of the region which taxed the river past its limits. Realizing the importance of finding additional sources of water, citizens around Ephraim and Spring City looked for solutions. Investigations indicated the best choice would be to bring water across the Great Basin Divide.4 Surplus water on the eastern side of the Wasatch Range could provide a sufficient amount of water to encourage modest population growth and to stabilize agriculture production in parts of the Sanpete Valley. However, the only way to transport to Ephraim and Spring City was to tunnel through the mountain range. Several early attempts to construct tunnels were made. The Murray Tunnel, which was to be 4200 feet long and was east of Ephraim, was abandoned after only 400 feet had been excavated. This unsuccessful effort did not dissuade additional efforts, as the Larson Irrigation Company built the Larson Tunnel north of the Murray site. Although the company successfully burrowed its way across the divide, an improper gradient resulted in a less than adequate water flow.5 The city of Ephraim controlled distribution of irrigation water from Cottonwood Creek until around 1919, after which the Ephraim Irrigation Company took over in 1920. The Horseshoe Irrigation Company eventually assumed control of irrigation efforts for Spring City. These stock companies acquired numerous water rights and ultimately controlled the majority of the available water for these villages. Realizing they needed to acquire additional water to properly irrigate their region, the companies looked to the Bureau of Reclamation for assistance. This resulted in several investigations to determine the feasibility of bringing water from the eastern side of the Wasatch Range across the divide to Sanpete Valley.6 Reclamation investigators examined the possibility of building two small reservoirs at Black Hill or the Freeman-Allred site to provide supplemental irrigation for Spring City, but concluded neither site was suitable. Although storage dams could be build on the sites, the reservoirs would be extremely small and not cost effective. Engineer E.O. Larson believed the Freeman-Allred site would be feasible only if built `as an emergency relief project or other work project,` but not under the terms of a general reclamation repayment contract.7 Studies of the three planned divisions; Gooseberry, Ephraim Tunnel, and the Black Canyon or Spring City division, showed that they could provide supplemental irrigation. Estimates indicated the Gooseberry Division would only supply additional water to 11,500 acres of the 20,000 acres under irrigation near Fairview, Moroni, and Mt. Pleasant. The Ephraim Division could provide supplemental irrigation for 6,500 acres, and the Spring City Division would only supply additional water to 1,500 (excluding 1,000 acres under the Gooseberry Division) of the 6,778 acres under irrigation.8 Water for Spring City and Ephraim would be moved through Wasatch Range by a system of small feeder canals and two tunnels which exited into either Ephraim or Oak Creeks, which were used by area residents to irrigate their lands. Since these two divisions only needed small feeder canals and the tunnels to provide supplemental irrigation for the region, costs would be kept down. Use of Civilian Conservation Corps assistance would save an estimated $8,000 on the Project. Only two obstacles stood in the way, water rights and the irrigation company charters.9 Water rights for the project were designated in the repayment contracts. Rights to water diverted from Cottonwood Creek filed after 1912 were `on the basis of equal priority for both tunnels.` However, each division could divert water on claim prior to 1912, as well as purchase these rights from other owners. Investigators believed this solution made each division `equally feasible.` Both irrigation companies amended their charters to allow a repayment contract with the federal government to be signed. The Horseshoe Irrigation Company signed the final repayment contract in May 1935.10 Utah fared quite well under the PWA. At least five proposed reclamation projects, including Sanpete, were studied and considered for funding. Roosevelt approved the Sanpete Project, consisting of the Spring City and Ephraim Divisions, on November 6, 1935, under the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. When Sanpete received approval Reclamation considered the Gooseberry Division too complicated and costly to construct at that time. Reclamation later considered Gooseberry as an independent project in the 1940s, and recommended as part of the Colorado River Storage Project in the 1950s, was never constructed.11 Although approved as a single project, the Sanpete Project consists of two separate units, Ephraim Tunnel and Spring City Tunnel, which operate independently of each other. Some of the water draining into Cottonwood Creek on the eastern side of the Wasatch Range is fed via small feeder canals into both of Sanpete`s tunnels where it goes through the mountain range, exiting into either Ephraim Creek for delivery to Ephraim or Oak Creek for Spring City.12 Work on the Sanpete Project was conducted in two phases, the first involved the construction of the Ephraim Tunnel, the other the Spring City Tunnel. Private contractors and the Civilian Conservation Corps built both divisions. Since neither division depended upon the other, companies were allowed to bid on each tunnel either separately or jointly. Government specifications imposed specific restrictions on labor, including wage limits and the standard Federal ban on Mongolian labor.13 Bids for Ephraim Tunnel were initially too high, so the government re-advertised the contract. The Morrison-Knudsen Company then won the contract for the Ephraim division with a bid of $162,434. Their offer to construct the Spring City division, as well as both tunnels was rejected by the government. The company received notice to proceed on the Ephraim Tunnel on September 3, 1935.14 In an attempt to keep construction costs low, Project Engineer Larson sought the assistance of Civilian Conservation Corps forces to excavate the feeder canals for both divisions. After reaching an agreement regarding CCC assistance, camp DBR-6 was established August 13, 1934, to house the workers. However, on October 20, they were transferred to work on the Ogden River Project. Summer Camp BR-6 was started July 23, 1935, to provide workers for the Sanpete feeder canals leading to the Ephraim Tunnel. Civilian Conservation Corps forces excavated the South Feeder Canal running from Sealey`s Creek and Beck`s Feeder Canal from Beck`s Creek to the Ephraim Tunnel entrance prior to the Morrison-Knudsen Company began working on the Tunnel.15 Morrison-Knudsen began construction operations on September 30, when it started excavating Ephraim Tunnel. The tunnel was to be roughly 7,200 feet long with a six and one-half foot high horseshoe shaped cross section. It penetrated through shale and limestone formations. Initially the construction focused on the outlet end, where the contractor`s decision to use a 24-inch gauge track in the tunnel slowed progress for the first 1500 feet. The mine cars made for crowded conditions in the tunnel. Tunneling operations speeded up after the contractor changed to an 18-inch gauge track which increased the space available for work inside the tunnel. The contractor averaged eighteen linear feet of excavation per day.16 A heavy snowfall during the winter of 1935-1936 resulted in the suspension of tunnelling operations on January 30, 1936. Excavation on the outlet end of Ephraim Tunnel resumed on May 28th and began on the inlet end on July 15th. Both ends continued tunneling towards each other, finally meeting on November 22, 1936. Inspections of the tunnel indicated the need to add either a concrete lining or timbering to prevent sloughing. By termination of the contract on February 15, 1937, Morrison-Knudsen had `concrete-lined 398 linear feet in the vicinity of the fault zone by working from both ends.`17 The government terminated the contract for Ephraim Tunnel on February 15, 1937, with a change order to the contract, when unforeseen and unspecified conditions stopped delivery of needed materials to the construction site. This change released the contractor and turned the work of lining the tunnel over to Reclamation. At this time the Ephraim Tunnel was capable of handling diversions for the 1937 irrigation season. During July, water was diverted through the tunnel for the first time.18 During August 1937, the Morrison-Knudsen Company turned its camp and buildings over to the government. The remaining work would be accomplished by force account in the fall and winter. After the facilities were fixed up, Reclamation forces moved in. Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees hauled equipment to the tunnel, and built the two feeder canals. Reclamation forces installed 1,335 linear feet of permanent timbering in the tunnel and lined 428 linear feet with concrete during the fall, thus completing this phase of the project in December 1938.19 Advertisements for the Spring City Tunnel were issued in early 1935 at the same time bids were requested for Ephraim Tunnel. Bids were opened on July 8, 1935. The government believed the low bid of $172,487.50 for Spring City Tunnel was too high, and the government re-advertised the contract under specification 747, on August, 23, 1937, for the Spring City Tunnel only. After reviewing eleven bids, the government decided to accept Dan Teters & Company`s bid of $128,235. Dan Teters & Company received notice to proceed on November 8, 1937.20 Dan Teters & Company began excavation of the Spring City Tunnel outlet portal during November 1937, and by the end of the year had complete 13% of the project. Inspectors believed this rate of progress would ensure completion of the tunnel before the March 1940 termination date. Cecil Jacobsen, Assistant Engineer on the Ephraim Tunnel, optimistically reported the Spring City Tunnel `will probably be completed prior to the 1939 irrigation season.` This prediction failed to materialize due to several problems; and water was not diverted until the fall of 1941.21 While construction on the Spring City Tunnel outlet portal continued during early 1938, complaints about the company reached the Bureau of Reclamation. An anonymous letter charging the Dan Teters Company with violating wage and labor laws arrived at Reclamation`s office in Salt Lake City, Utah, during late March 1938. `An employee on project` stated the company was forcing its men to work more than eight hours per day and that other employees were receiving less than the required minimum wage in order to keep their jobs. The Salt Lake office directed associate engineer M.S. Ross to investigate the complaint. Ross discovered that Mr. Donald Madison, whose work was unsatisfactory and who was let go, wrote the letter. With one exception, the charges were either misleading or patently false; Ross did find out that the company violated the eight-hour law. Larson informed the Commissioner of Reclamation of the violations and stated the company had been fined $75.0022 The contractor also experienced additional difficulties in acquiring skilled labor. Although a number of miners were on relief and reemployment rolls, few were skilled in machine mining; additionally, a shortage of chuck tenders existed. This problem was exacerbated when qualified individuals quit without advance notice or when unqualified workers were let go. Unable to find eligible workers from the area, the company asked permission to seek employees from other regions within Utah. Utah`s employment bureau and the Bureau of Reclamation authorized the company to hire persons for these positions without obtaining prior clearance.23 Civilian Conservation Corps forces also began working on the feeder canals for the Spring City Tunnel. They excavated the Cedar Creek Feeder Canal and Brough`s Fork Feeder Canal during 1938. In addition, CCC crews enlarged the existing Reeder Ditch, which was in use while waiting for completion of the tunnel.24 Excavation of the Spring City Tunnel inlet portal began in June 1938. Workers continued tunneling from both ends until August when work on the outlet end was terminated. Thereafter, construction continued from the inlet portal. Just as it appeared the tunnel would be holed through, a new problem arose.25 Construction of the Spring City Tunnel was briefly delayed from September 10, 1938 to September 12, 1938, when workers on the graveyard shift called for a strike. After persuading the day shift to join in, two men went to the main camp to encourage the employees to strike. All work stopped as a majority of the workers protested, and pickets were established. It appeared that few individuals even knew a strike was planned. An informal committee went to discuss their demands with Mr. Teters, but he refused to negotiate at that time and informed the workers that anyone who wanted to work should come back on the 12th.26 Realizing the employees` demands were quite minor, Mr. Teter was willing to bargain, but wanted to ensure the talks would bind the entire work force. Representatives of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelters Workers arrived on the 12th to open discussions. The major issues for the strike were a demand for an eight hour day, permission to live away from the company camp, and an increase in wages. Talks went quickly as Teter conceded almost every point and agreed to establish a `closed shop.` By four o`clock that afternoon work was resumed.27 The company also agreed it would obtain all of its employees from Local Union #448 in Provo, Utah. Although the Utah State Employment Service refused to clear or refer any workers for the project during the strike; the short duration of the strike and the contract made this threat irrelevant. Teters informed the Bureau of Reclamation that all future requests for workers would be handled by the union.28 Excavation operations resumed on the tunnel. On September 13, workers punched their way through the remaining rock. The contractor then began concrete lining of the sides and the arch; leaving the invert unlined to provide additional working room. By December, only 1050 linear feet of concreting remained. After the Federal Government terminated Dan Teters & Company`s contract on February 10, 1939, Reclamation resumed operations on Spring City Tunnel by force account. Reclamation forces completed the remaining work by the end of September 1939.29
Plan
Water is fed into the Ephraim and Spring City Tunnels by feeder canals, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which collect water originating on the eastern slope of the southern range of the Wasatch Mountains. The tunnels convey water to the western slope adjacent to project lands. The Ephraim Division is operated and maintained by the Ephraim Irrigation Company. The Spring City Division is operated and maintained by the Horseshoe Irrigation Company.
Contact
Contact
Title: Area Office ManagerOrganization: Provo Area Office
Address: 302 East 1860 South
City: Provo, UT 84606-7317
Phone: 801-379-1101
Owner
Title: Public Affairs OfficerOrganization: Upper Colorado Regional Office
Address: 125 South State Street, Rm 7102
City: Salt Lake City, UT 84138-1102
Fax: 801-524-5499
Phone: 801-524-3774
Contact
Organization: Sanpete Water Conservancy DistrictAddress: PO Box 3201
City: Chester, UT 84623
Phone: 435-436-8283
