Blanding's first reservoir was built in 1916 just east of where the nursing home is now. It wasn't big enough and a second reservoir was built in 1920, just next to the water treatment plant. Both of these reservoirs are no longer in use. (Shumway. 1-2) The third reservoir is next to the third reservoir park. It holds 180 acre feet, but only 120 acre feet can be used. The other 60 is for fish conservation. The fourth reservoir holds 580 acre feet and only 400 acre feet can be used. The other 180 acre feet are for fish conservation. (Palmer)

Water is Distributed by Rights

Johnson Creek is  one of the creeks  carrying water from Blanding tunnel. - Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997.
 
Water is distributed by rights. Blanding City has one second foot right in Johnson Creek and two second feet in Indian Creek on the north side of the tunnel, purchased from Sommerville Cattle Company for $10,000. (Perkins, Nielson, and Jones 163-164.) Water is measured in second feet and acre feet. An acre foot is an acre foot of water, a foot deep. There are 325,000 gallons in an acre foot. A second foot is one cubic foot per second which is 1 foot by 1 foot. The flow of water is measured by how many gallons flow in a minute. A second foot is 448 gallons a minute or a cubic foot per second. The city gets 1,344 gallons a minute total plus 50,000 shares from Recapture Reservoir. (Palmer)

Repairing the Third and Fourth Reservoirs

The repair of the third and fourth reservoir took place during the summer of 1990. The third was emptied and new pipes put in and the face of the dam was covered with clay and a spillway was put in. There is some controversy over this issue. The state seems to think that the city didn't do what they should have done to fix the third but the city thinks they did. The fourth reservoir was emptied and it was covered with clay. It took an estimated 60,000 tons of clay at a cost of $2.50 a ton. The cost of the clay was $150,000. The total cost to fix the reservoir was just more than $300,00.

Johnson Creek

The Johnson Creek Well was drilled by Devon Hurst in 1962. It is 925 ft. deep with 10 inch casing. It puts out about 100-120 gallons of water a minute. The water is pumped by a propane motor which drives a shaft which turns a gear box. This gear box turns a shaft down in the well about 500 feet. The shaft turns a pump which brings the water to the surface.

Storage Tanks, Starvation Reservoir, and Recapture Dam

Blanding's storage tank above the ground. It is made out of cement and holds one million gallons of water. It is 22 ft deep and has a diameter of 45 feet. It was built by Hurst Construction in 1976. - Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997.
 

Blanding has two water storage tanks. One is above ground and the other is below. The one below is just at the foot of the knoll north of Blanding. The one above ground is made out of cement and holds one million gallons. It is 22 ft deep and has a diameter of 45 feet. It was built by Hurst Construction in 1976. In 1985 Blanding built another reservoir called Starvation. It cost 1.4 million dollars and holds 600 acre feet. There is no conservation level requirement for this reservoir so all the water can be used. (Palmer.) In 1982 Recapture Dam began to be built, but before it could be started, an agreement had to be made with Ervin Guymon, a local farmer who owned land where the dam was to be built. He did not want to sell the land, so an agreement was made. Mr. Guymon would have the grazing rights to the edge of the water. The BLM did not like this, so they stepped in and did not allow Mr. Guymon to graze next to the water. Norman Nielson was sent to tell Mr. Guymon the news. He did not like this, but there was nothing he could do about it. The land was appraised at $500 an acre. Mr. Guymon was paid $16,000 for his land. (Watkins)
 

Recapture Dam with part of the reservoir.  The Recapture Dam was started in 1982 and by 1985 the dam was dedicated. The total cost was $7.8 million. The dam holds 9,000 acre ft. The dam was built for irrigation. A pipe runs from the bottom of the dam to the farms for irrigation. - Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997.

Three Phases to Complete Recapture Dam

The dam could now be started. It was built in three phases. The first phase was to form a good solid base costing $1.2 million. The second phase began in 1983. It was to build a coffer dam to hold water so the actual dam could be built and to help build the dam. It cost $1.5 million. In 1984 the third and final phase began. The actual dam was begun. In 1985 the dam was finished and dedicated. The total cost was $7.8 million. The dam was built with the purpose in mind for irrigation. A pipe was run from the bottom of the dam to the farms for irrigation. Pressure became better and more people could irrigate. The dam holds 9,000 acre ft. The city owns 500 acre ft. a year, at a cost of $20,000 a year. (Shumway. 3-4.)

Old and New Pipelines

Before the tunnel was built, the first pipelines were put in. They were 6 inch pipes made out of 2 inch strips of redwood hooked together and wrapped every so often with wire. The trenches were dug and the pipe was laid. The cost of the pipes and the first reservoir was $45,000. All the families that used the wooden pipes had to dig the trench to their houses. Each tap and hydrant they had cost $1.50.
 
Blue Mountain, the source of Blanding's main water supply.  
- Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997.
 
On August 19, 1947, the town of Blanding voted to put in a pipeline to carry water from Blue Mountain to Blanding. It was contracted by Douglas Harvey. The trench was then cut in the mountain and the pipe was laid. It cost $139,992.39. (Perkins, Nielson, Jones 165-168.) Most of the old pipelines are galvanized. When they have to be replaced, they are replaced with plastic called poly ethylene. It is a high density plastic. It is different from PVC. The new pipes have a longer life expectancy and come in rolls. There are no joints. One problem with this is that pipes can't be found with a metal detector so a map with good information is needed. Some big improvements were made in the culinary water system just recently. New pipes were installed to improve fire protection and increase water pressure. A lot of 2 inch pipes were replaced mostly with 6-inch. There was 21,000 feet of 6-inch, 8,000 feet of 8-inch, and 11,000 feet of 10-inch installed. New pipes were installed along the highway north and south of town. The bid was just less than $570,000.

Recapture Dam Receives Pipelines

When Recapture Dam was built, the city had no way of getting their 500 acre feet of water, so they sold it back to the Irrigation Company. Because of the drought the city recently put in a pipe line so this water could be used. It hooks onto the irrigation line which starts just below Parley Hurst's field. It uses 12 inch pipes, then it comes to a pumping station and hooks into 8-inch pipe then into 10 then to 12 and finally 18 inch near the water treatment plant. This line can be used for irrigation also. The bid was just less than $500,000. (Philip Palmer, interview.)

Over the years Blanding has gone through some tough times but they have found new resources and were able to sustain themselves. The problem isn't over. Additional water will always be needed to this arid southeastern Utah town.

 
Casey Black wrote this paper while he attended San Juan High School as a junior, in 1991.
 

Works Cited:

Palmer, Philip. Interviewed by Casey Black, January 13, 1991, Blanding UT

Perkins, Cornelia A. and Marian G. Nielson, and Lonora B. Jones, Saga of San Juan, San Juan County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1957

Shumway, Preston. " Water Development in Blanding" San Juan High School.

Watkins, Ivan. Interviewed by Harley Watkins, San Juan County, Utah, November 12, 1987

 

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Last Updated July 11, 1997 by Janet Wilcox