April 23, 2000
Over the last few months, giant earth-movers in Southern Utah have been preparing for construction of one of Utah's biggest and most unusual dam projects in many years.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst visited the site and has details.
It's designed to provide water for booming growth in the St. George area. And it looks ahead to the day when a huge pipeline might be built all the way from Lake Powell and across Southern Utah.
The reservoir itself will be quite unusual.
Earth-movers have already churned up a couple of pretty good stretches of desert.
Beginning next fall, they'll actually start building two dams:
One more than a mile long.
Another nearby, just over a half-mile long.
Together they'll store water from the Virgin River in a basin, creating a 900 acre lake.
More fuel for the huge construction boom in southwestern Utah.
DANIEL MCARTHUR/MAYOR OF ST. GEORGE: "THE ONLY REASON WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GROW, IN MY OPINION, IN THE PAST, IS BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE FORESIGHT TO GO OUT AND GET THE WATER BEFORE IT'S NEEDED AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A PLACE FOR IT."
JOHN HOLLENHORST REPORTING: "ONE OF THE REMARKABLE FEATURES OF THE NEW PROJECT IS THAT THERE WILL BE A LOT MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. ON THE SURFACE A BIG LAKE. AND DEEP UNDERGROUND, A SECOND RESERVOIR, HIDDEN FROM VIEW."
VICTOR HEILWEIL/U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: "INVISIBLE TO THE EYE BUT VERY VISIBLE TO THE ENGINEERS AND GEOLOGISTS."
Geologists know a lot of stored water will seep through the desert floor into the aquifer below. They're studying the site now to see how much water will be lost.
But the plan is to recover it. Crews are drilling a series of wells that will pull the lost water back out of the ground when it's needed.
VICTOR HEILWEIL/U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: "BASICALLY THAT CAN BE USED DURING DROUGHT YEARS WHEN THE SURFACE WATER RESERVOIRS MIGHT RUN DRY."
The fact that Sand Hollow is being built at all is something of a political miracle.
The original plan was to dam the Virgin River above Zion National Park. A national environmental battle led to a rare political compromise.
Congress and President Clinton approved a land-swap, allowing a reservoir downstream from the park.
Eventually, planners hope Sand Hollow will be at the receiving end of a 120-mile pipeline stretching all the way from Lake Powell.
It's a dream, but local planners very much believe in it.
DANIEL MCARTHUR/MAYOR OF ST. GEORGE: "ABSOLUTELY. I THINK IT'S VERY MUCH NEEDED."
That pipeline project is still quite a way out there in the future. Now that Sand Hollow is taking shape, planners don't believe they'll need Lake Powell water for another 15 or 20 years.
