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Jed Boal Reporting After a six year drought, it's hard to imagine too much water in any of our reservoirs this late in the summer. But that's the situation at Deer Creek as water managers try to solve problems other than drought.
Utah's reservoirs this summer show us dramatic change. It's quite a turn-around after prolonged drought. Three years ago at Deer Creek Reservoir the water disappeared from the shore. Last year the water was more than 30 feet below full reservoir, about as low as it's ever been.
Ed Vidmar, Bureau of Reclamation Resource Management: "Some of the boat ramps were extended. There were mud flats. It made recreation tough. For several years, this boat ramp was high and dry, but now it's an easy launch. It's hard to imagine, the Bureau of Reclamation has to let some of the water go. We were able to fill Deer Creek from thirty feet down. Water actually spilled out of the spillway."
During the next couple of months, the Bureau of Reclamation will release water so that work can be done at the toe of the dam and on highway 189 near the dam. They thought normal water use would draw it down enough, but not this summer.
Ed Vidmar, Bureau of Reclamation Resource Management: "The base flows have been good. Nobody's been using water, which is good, but from a construction aspect we need to get the reservoir down."
Not a bad problem to have. The bureau expects more of the water will go to beneficial use and the draw down will make space available for run-off next spring.
Flows in the Provo River will increase in some places as water is released from the reservoir.
