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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- The Department of the Interior has signed off on a $450 million agreement that clears the way for two hydroelectric plants in Spanish Fork Canyon.
The deal, signed Wednesday, also calls for five segments of pipeline to deliver water to south Utah County, Juab County and Salt Lake County.
The pipelines will connect to the Central Utah Project pipeline finished earlier this year, which runs from Strawberry Reservoir to the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon.
The project will take 15 years to construct and will be funded with federal money and existing local property taxes.
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District says a 45-megawatt power plant will be constructed at the head of Sixth Water Creek in Spanish Fork Canyon. A five-megawatt power plant is planned in Upper Diamond Fork Canyon in Spanish Fork Canyon.
One megawatt can power about a thousand homes.
Revenue from the two power plants will be used to lower the cost of delivering the water to residents in ten communities, including: Springville, Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Salem, Woodland Hills, Payson, Elk Ridge, Santaquin, Genola and Goshen.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
