More on the Strawberry - Spanish Fork River Pipeline

[cat_man]

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 12:00 AM
Caleb Warnock THE DAILY HERALD [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/print.php?sid=18970"][/url] | [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Recommend_Us&file=index&req=FriendSend&sid=18970"][/url]

A 20-mile-long, $150 million series of tunnels linking Strawberry Reservoir to the lower Spanish Fork River is being tested this week.

Chris Finlinson of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District said schools, recreation clubs and the public have been asked to avoid the river as high flows will come down at different times during the week. The series of tunnels has been under construction for 12 years.

"This is the completion of a lifelong dream for a lot of people," she said. "It completes this section of the Central Utah Project that eventually will guarantee water to the south end of Utah County for the next 50 years."

The project also will eventually bring water to north Utah County and Salt Lake County to replace water that Orem, Provo and north Utah County cities now take out of the Provo River for irrigation and drinking water before it reaches Utah Lake, she said.

"We have to make the Utah Lake water users whole," she said. "It is a big deal, it is an important day and we've been working on this a long time."

Project managers will be stationed at different points along the 20-mile series of tunnels this week to manually test computer systems controlling a series of valves along the tunnels, she said. If this week's tests go well, the computer systems will then be tested remotely next week. If all tests are successful, the tunnels will go into regular use this summer.

"So far it went very well," she said.

Safety measures, including diversion valves, are in place should any computer system or flow valve fail, causing water to back up in the tunnels, she said.

"We are testing to see if any of the valves don't open or close properly," she said. "Say for some reason the valve at Monks Hollow doesn't open correctly, then you've got water you don't know what to do with. Or if a vibration were to start, or if there were too much air or too little air in the tunnel, it could become a problem, then you might have some kind of equipment failure."

If water were to become trapped behind a failed valve, it could be diverted into the rivers that run naturally in the canyon, she said.

"It's not a huge tragedy but we wouldn't want to create any environmental damage," she said. "The main thing is that they want to be sure the system works and works properly."


[i]Caleb Warnock can be reached at 344-2543 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.[/i]This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.
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[glassyeyedPaul]

Alright Mikecromiane, if you're reading this, it's time to do the Utah Lake Fish dance! I can't wait for the water to get down to the lake thus making it deeper! Very good news for us anglers! Bring it on CUP folks, we love you!
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