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John Hollenhorst ReportingUtah has a spectacular new waterfall. Strictly speaking, it's a not a natural phenomenon, but it certainly shows nature's power and beauty.
It's a water show that's been a long time coming, the newest tourist attraction in Duchesne County.
Grace Moore, Lapoint: "It reminds me of Niagra Falls in New York."
It's the Upper Stillwater Dam in all its glory, a springtime spectacle no one got to see during the drought years.
Bill Peatross, Dam Manager: "It hasn't spilled since 1999, and so it's been a while."
The curtain of falling water is 600 feet wide, 200 feet high.
Rick Moore, Lapoint: "I think it's gorgeous. It looks like angel wings coming off there, so white and beautiful."
Up close, it's unbelievable! The wind, the noise, the spray! It's like being in a hurricane! The water is pouring out of Upper Stillwater Reservoir. Runoff from the fading snowpack in the High Uintas is intercepted by the dam as it pours down the Rock Creek Drainage.
Bill Peatross: "And most efficient would be to operate it so that it doesn't spill. However, the drainage basin is just too large for this reservoir, and on a normal year, it's going to spill."
The dam is doing the job it was designed to do. It diverts water through a tunnel, ultimately to the Wasatch Front. What the tunnel can't handle goes over the top.
Bill Peatross: "And all of this excess will eventually end up in Lake Powell."
While it lasts, the spill is a spectacular return-engagement after years of drought. The spill is expected to last nearly two more weeks. The location is in Rock Creek Canyon about an hour's drive northwest of Duchesne.
