Flashback: Fifty-Two Years Ago

Work to Begin On Reservoir by Roy Robinson

Salt Lake Telegram

October 18, 1950

Construction of the Deer Creek terminal reservoir - final phase of the Salt Lake Aqueduct - is expected to start within the next few days, according to word received Wednesday from the regional office of the United States bureau of reclamation.

The 40,000,000 gallon reservoir will be built at 33rd South and Wasatch blvd. at a cost of $1,259,940.  It will serve as a distribution point for water carried through the 41-mile-long aqueduct from Deer Creek reservoir in Provo Canyon.

To Cover Reservoir

The reservoir is designed in two compartments to facilitate cleaning and servicing according to C. H. Carter, bureau regional engineer. Its concrete cover will be soiled over and landscaped.

Completion date, under the contract, is Dec. 19, 1951. Work is being done under the supervision of L. R. Dunkley, project engineer of the bureau’s provo river project.

Final leg of the aqueduct was completed on the Provo canyon end early this month.  Work on the over-all project, costing in excess of $11,000,000 began in 1939 and was intermittently delayed during World War II.

Federally Financed

The project is financed by the federal government under the sponsorship of the bureau of reclamation. The cost will be repaid, interest free, in annual installments.

The Salt Lake Metropolitan water district’s annual allotment of Deer creek water is approximately 50,000 acre-feet.  Availability of water from this source alone will supply a population of 400,000 and solve Salt Lake City’s water problems, at the present rate of growth, for the next 50 years, according to experts.