By Gary S. Lyman

Reprinted with permission from Blue Mountain Shadows, Vol. 3

The climate of San Juan County, Utah is rather variable. The mountains of the western United States affect the climate dramatically. These mountain ranges are the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Ranges, and the Sierra Nevadas. When storms come from the Pacific Ocean, they have to climb over the Sierras, thus losing most of their precipitation before arriving at Blanding and most of Utah. The Rockies are a barrier and do not permit extended periods of cold weather to stay in the area. (Division of Water Resources 15.)

The climate of San Juan County is semiarid with light precipitation, large daily ranges of temperature, and low relative humidity. (Division of Water Resource.) In Blanding there are two different rainfall seasons. One is in the late summer and early fall and this is precipitation usually comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The other is during the winter and these storms are usually from the Pacific Ocean. (Division of Water Resource.) Usually San Juan County will go without much precipitation for a couple years and then that is followed by wetter than normal years. Due to the uncertainty of the precipitation, a constant supply of water is very necessary for culinary use before a town can thrive.

Blanding

Blanding is situated on a mesa, which was once covered with wild grass and sagebrush, and is surrounded by many rock monuments and canyons.

Walter C. Lyman standing by the first ditch that brought water from Johnson Creek that runs from the Blanding tunnel. - San Juan Historical Commission photo.

One of the first projects early settlers started was to bring water from the Blue Mountains, north of Blanding. They did this by making a ditch. The ditch was supposed to be three feet wide and a foot deep. A company was formed and when the construction began on the ditch it looked like it was climbing up hill. Some old cowpunchers came around and said this, "These---Mormons think they're goin' to make water run up hill; they'll sure be fooled." (Lyman, Albert R.43)

Even though the ditch was needed badly, it was not popular at that time and did not have much support. To add to all the trouble the builders of the ditch were having, more setbacks were to come. Albert R. Lyman, an early settler on the frontier of Blanding, tells of one incident that happened during the time of the construction.

Gladys and Albert R. Lyman were the first settlers to put up a tent in the area now known as Blanding. The historical books he wrote describes the growth of Blanding community and water developments as well as the Blanding tunnel. - Donated to the San Juan Historical Commission.

"In the fall of 1898, when we had been eagerly hammering away for a year at our cherished project--and let me say right here it was a cherished undertaking, we anticipated the future with great hopes--the surprise events began to happen as if they might have been planned: My father was called to preside over the European Mission (LDS church), Uncle Walter was called to the Eastern States, and then to preside over the Central States Mission. Willis Rogers was called to the Southern States, his brother John on an M.I.A. Mission to Arizona and I to England. We put our enthusiasm in cold storage and went. As my father left he said, 'I pray that the country will be so dry while we are gone that no one will think of jumping our claims.' The ditch became the laughing stock of the country, a fantastic undertaking which had been abandoned as impossible of accomplishment." (Albert R. Lyman 43.)

When the men returned from their missions, in 1900, the ditch was completed and was successful. It was called the upper ditch. Later on, another company was formed and it constructed a second canal which was called the lower ditch. These two companies joined and became the Blanding Irrigation Company. The company was organized in order to have a legal entity or corporation which would permit them to do business in the State of Utah. (Lyman, Clisbee 1-2)

Blue Mountain with Recapture Lake located north of Blanding. Blanding's main water source comes from Blue Mountain through the tunnel and spring runoffs. - Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997.

The Blanding Irrigation Company

When the company was set up, it was to be a for-profit organization but was later changed to a nonprofit organization, which it is today. The Blanding Irrigation Company assisted the frontier development of Blanding in many significant ways: It established a power plant and water systems, including upper and lower ditches, the tunnel project, reservoirs, and helped with the Recapture Dam.

Culinary water was needed badly in the new settlement. The Blanding Irrigation Company set up the first culinary water distribution system for the city. First, reservoirs were built. Three of them were successfully completed and ready for use. The wooden mainline pipes were then hooked up to the homes and culinary water was available. (Lyman, Clisbee 3) This system was installed in 1916 at a cost of $45,000. The people in Blanding thought the wooden pipes would give them problems but the contractors said that when wrapped in tarred wire that they would last forever. The water was dreadfully stale and smelled terrible, but the town was thrilled to have it at the turn of a tap. However, in the summer when the ponds got low, every once in a while a dead frog would clog up the line or a frog's leg would shoot out of the faucet into the glass of water which they had planned on drinking. (Lyman, Albert R. 18) Again people were forced to haul their water from West Water Canyon.

Rotten Wooden Pipes Get Replaced With New Metal Pipes

About 20 years after their installation, the pipes began to rot, just as the townspeople had suspected. It was very costly to repair the holes and the leaks made a muddy mess wherever they occurred. The old wooden pipes were dug up and metal ones were put in their place at a cost of $53,289.50. Residents still had to boil their water, but they were thankful that the leaks were gone. (Lyman, Albert R. 19)

On December 24, 1936, the Blanding Irrigation Company agreed to sell to the City of Blanding one cubic foot per second of water and all three reservoirs for the sum of $10,000. (Memorandum of Agreement, December 24, 1936, p. 1.) On November 16, 1938, a deed for this property was issued by the Blanding Irrigation Company to Blanding City. (Warranty Agreement, November 16, 1938, p. 1.)

The Blanding Irrigation Company Continue
Return to Table of Contents