Water Crisis in Blanding Triggers Building of Early Reservoirs

By LaVerne Tate & Janet Wilcox 
   Many of you will remember the water crisis Blanding faced in the spring of 1990.  That winter had no significant winter snowstorms and very little runoff came into the Starvation Reservoir or Dry Wash Reservoir. In May the City of Blanding hired John Black to pump water 24 hrs a day to the Water Treatment Plant. Ironically, Blanding was out of water but owned water in the Recapture reservoir. There were big pumps which moved the water up to two other lift ponds to the Starvation Reservoir, where it could go through the city pipelines to the water treatment plant.  Philip Palmer was the engineer on this project.
   To solve the problem Blanding rented 12,000 ft. of sectional pipe, each section 8»x40› long from Bowlens Inc., Rain for Rent, Logan, Utah. They also rented four diesel high volume, high pressure pumps from them. These pumps were in continuous use and one was a standby, in case of problems. The water was pumped 500 feet to get from Recapture reservoir to the Starvation reservoir. It took 12,000 ft. of pipeline for that distance!  
    Jerry Holliday built the lift ponds and the roadway for the pipeline. Some of the road was an old sawmill gravel road that went up to the west side of Johnson Creek (called the LC Ranch). Bowlens worked with city employees Mike Dayzie, David Homedew and John Black to install the pipeline from Northwest side of Recapture up the old sawmill road ½ mile and then up the old LC Ranch dugway, from there northwest to Starvation Reservoir.  
   Jerry Holliday’s crew built two lift storage ponds, one at the base of the hill, and one on top of the hill. This was to relieve the pressure for the pumps doing the transfer of the water. It was a 500›, vertical lift from Recapture to Starvation. A fourth pump, owned by the city of Blanding, pumped water from the lowered level of 4th Reservoir to the pipeline to go to the water treatment plant There were 250 gallons per minute pumped into the treatment plant until the 4th Reservoir was drained. (Glen and Kline Black came up there with their fishing nets and took some very prize fish out of 4th at this time.) 
   John›s job was to check the pumps three times a day and make sure everything continued to run on schedule.  He did this for six months.  Each lift pond had to maintain the same level of water to keep the pumps functioning on the right level. He started at 6:00 A.M. to check his pumps and water lines and checked them again at 12:00 noon and 6:00 P.M.  On weekends he would change the oil on the pumps. Each pump had its own fuel tank. Mike Christensen delivered fuel to each pump. A million gallons of water were pumped every 24 hours to the water treatment plant by this process.
   On weekends John would change the oil on the pumps. Each pump had its own fuel tank and Mike Christensen delivered fuel to each pump. John could go to Starvation Reservoir and look at the water coming out of the pipeline and tell if all the pumps were functioning properly. A million gallons of water were pumped every 24 hours to the water treatment plant by this process. 
  The 4th Reservoir was built in Westwater Canyon in the 1960’s for $110,000 to increase Blanding’s water storage. Previously $100,000 had been spent trying to do patch jobs to stop the seepage that lost water which was needed for the farms below Blanding. In 1964, the Blanding Water Treatment Plant was built in Blanding and in 1970, a million-gallon storage tank was built at the water treatment site. In 1980 the Starvation Reservoir was built by the City of Blanding.
   The old original standby reservoir, called the 3rd, was first drained and covered with the Bentonite Clay.  Trees, reeds, and brush were removed and it was thoroughly redone. The 4th Reservoir had been patched, at least three times trying to stop the loss of water that seeped constantly from the dam.  It was finally decided that the 4th had to be completely lined and fixed to stop the water loss. This project began in the fall of 1990 with $350.000 allotted to complete it. Norman Nielson was a strong proponent of the project and John Black was the Construction Supervisor. Many local truckers and equipment owners were also involved.  The 4th Reservoir was completely drained and lined with Bentonite Clay. A total of 60,000 tons of clay was hauled to the site from the Recapture area.  It was then completely covered again with soil so the clay wouldn›t be eroded. The permit for the good Bentonite clay from above Recapture was obtained from the B.L.M. 
   The City of Blanding got a CIB grant to put in pumps, and a 10» metal pipeline so now if they had a water emergency, they could pump water directly to the Starvation reservoir from Recapture reservoir. The 4th Reservoir and Starvation Reservoirs could now hold the same amount of water, 550 Acre ft. of water.
   This project was finished Thanksgiving weekend.  It was finished with no delays or problems.  Since then, the reservoir has never been dry. The equipment and fuel tanks were moved out by Nov. 30.  On Dec. 10 it snowed 2› at the project—a big boost to the final completion of the purpose. All of Blanding today reap the benefits of this great effort which assures that we have water. So when you›re taking your long shower, remember the price and effort of good, safe water.