KANAB – The waters of Kanab Creek are flowing into the newly completed Jackson Flat Reservoir, ensuring a plentiful water supply for the city for years to come.
The reservoir is filling with a 24-inch supply line from the upper Kanab irrigation system at a rate of 2.9 million gallons per day. There are currently 59 million gallons of water in the reservoir. The total storage capacity is 1.38 billion gallons.
Filling the reservoir is variable depending on the amount of precipitation the area receives during the winter. The supply line can sustain flows of just under 7 million gallons per day, making the current rate moderate to low. If recent flows persist, the reservoir will fill to one-third of its capacity by the shutoff date of Apr. 1, 2013. It storms continue and flows increase, the reservoir could be at 50 percent capacity by that time.
This added storage will more than double the amount of water available during the growing season for farms, residential yards and gardens. The water could also be used for other recreational and public areas in the city such as parks, the cemetery and schools. The Kane County Water Conservancy District has an engineered initial filling plan to insure the dam is operating properly as it fills and has designated a Dam Tender to maintain and continually study the reservoir. There is also an Emergency Action Plan in the event of a 100-year or 500-year flood.
The reservoir was completed this past spring and was noted by the Utah Engineer Dave Marble from the Office of Dam Safety as one of the cleanest constructed reservoirs he has inspected. The Kane County Water Conservancy District is proud to have helped develop this state-of-the-art infrastructure that will help grow crops for local farmers, create a place for residents to recreate, and contribute to a better lifestyle for all Kane County residents.
Submitted by: Paul Monroe
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
This is yet another example of Utah Republicans railing at the federal government and wanting to be left alone on one hand and then on the other hand, happily taking federal funds to build projects such as the Jackson Flats Reservoir. What hypocrites!
Memo to Ms Misinformed Karen ???: The Kane County Water Conservancy District receives about $800,000 per year in property tax collections of which about 50% is generated from out of state second home owners. The taxes are collected on less than 8% of the land (the private property) in the county. The federal government pays Kane County (not the water district) approximately $1 million a year on the other 90% of land in the county (this is a payment in lieu of taxes or PILT monies) This money goes directly to the Kane County General fund and to the Kane County School District. What has the federal government contributed in property taxes to the Kane County Water Conservancy District who has constructed over $60 million dollars in water infrastructure to benefit not only Kane County residents but millions of visitors to our state since 1996? Answer: Zero, Nada. So the $5 million dollar grant for this $14 million dollar project seems to be fair as I see it. I would much prefer that the federal government turn over management of all of the public lands in the state of Utah so that Utahns can manage what is legally ours, or if they want to own all this land in Utah then they should pay their fair share of taxes which would amount to well over the $5 million each and every year. Imagine what kind of schools and Universities and public benefits could be derived from that!
Sincerely,
Rep Mike Noel R Kanab
I am not “misinformed”. I just disagree with your premise that the public lands in Utah are “legally ours”. I would prefer that the federal government keep ownership as I have more trust in them than in local governments. My view is that when the federal government owns the lands, we all own the land and benefit from it in ways that aren’t all dollar signs.
A perfect example of land developers run amuck aided by local government is the fiasco of The Ledges development overlooking Snow Canyon State Park. The Washington County Commission prevailed upon Congress to force a “swap” of land in Snow Canyons State Park so that monster houses could sit perched at the rim of Snow Canyon. Not only does it ruin the view of thousands of visitors to the Park but it forced what would have been a family friendly trail along the Rim to become a goat trail as it has a steep descent just to go around The Ledges. And, now that much of The Ledges is in foreclosure, the County is out millions of unpaid property taxes. The people of Washington County are the losers both in quality of life and lost revenue. The developers made their money and are gone.