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HEBER CITY — Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson sat in the mustard-yellow colored backhoe, smiling as she received instruction on operating the controls. After a few minutes, she scooped a pile of dirt on the Deer Creek Intake Project's construction site — a small gesture that kicked off a project to protect and enhance the water supply for millions of Utahns.
The three-year project will upgrade the Deer Creek Dam's intake and guard gates, providing improved water quality and reliability for Deer Creek Reservoir's downstream users. Roughly 1.5 million people use the water from the reservoir for agriculture, secondary irrigation and drinking, according to Provo River Water Users Association research.
Henderson noted that renovating the 82-year-old dam is a top priority.
"Water is a critical component of our growth in the state of Utah," she said, "and it's something that our administration has been focusing on a lot these past couple of years."
Renovating such old equipment can prove difficult, however, according to Deon Stockert, a Water Users Association engineer.
"When you look at a valve from the early 1900s that the Bureau of Reclamation built, it's a lot like a NASA project," Stockert said. "So when we get together and look at this old infrastructure, it takes a while to actually figure out what our grandparents are doing."
"We want to be proactive with this and be able to rehabilitate those gates before it becomes a problem," said Keith Denos, the water association's general manager.
Workers will be building a bypass through the side of the mountain into the reservoir so they can do the work and continue to deliver water downstream without emptying the reservoir.
"Constructing in the wet is more prudent, it's more environmentally friendly and it makes sure that we can make our deliveries downstream to our water users," Denos said.
The Water Users Association's innovative construction will also help protect the flow of water by preparing for seismic emergencies — preparations and seismic standards that the old infrastructure doesn't have, operations and engineering manager Jeff Budge said.
"The satisfying thing about it is that we are able to enhance and prepare for the future," he said.
Refurbishing the dam will also help store the water in the reservoir instead of completely draining it, Water Users Association researchers say. Throughout the year, the reservoir collects water from spring runoff, so water storage will be key, according to Henderson.
"Water storage is a critical component of our water management plan," the lieutenant governor said. "We have to be able to store the water that we get in banner years — like this past winter — in order to save up for the times of drought that we will inevitably experience again."
Such renovations will also protect the dam from invasive species such as the Quagga mussel, which could render the intake and guard gates useless.
"We're going to go back in and rebuild those valves, and we'll coat most of the new parts with a — they call it a foul-release coating that inhibits the Quagga mussels from adhering to the metal," Budge said.
Despite the benefits to the construction, the project is expected to cost about $100 million over the next three years. The Utah Board of Water Resources will provide a $65 million loan, and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, and the Provo River Water Users Association will come up with the rest.
Contributing: Jed Boal
