Residents ask Oakley to back grant to pipe historic Richards Ditch to reduce water loss

Steve (no last name provided), who said he represents the Richard Ditch, asked the Oakley City Council to use the city’s influence to pursue grant funding to install a buried pipeline where earlier upgrades left a conduit knockout but no pipe.

The request, delivered during the council’s public comment period, seeks funding to run a roughly 30-inch pipeline parallel to the Provo River canal and then east across New Lane toward town property. Steve said the Richard Ditch serves about 200 acres and that a head gate has been used since the 1920s after the canal’s construction cut off the ditch’s historic diversion point.

“There's a lot of water right now that's wasted … I was talking to Dallas. He thinks about 30% of the water gets lost. 30–50% of the water gets just lost down in here,” Steve said, describing beaver dams and seepage where the open ditch crosses low ground.

Steve said the canal upgrade installed a knockout and a vault location intended for a future pipe, but budget constraints left the vault empty. He described preliminary support from the Provo River Canal users, the Weber River people and the state water engineer for installing the pipe as originally drawn, and said the Provo Canal engineers have offered to supply sizing and cost numbers for a 30-inch line.

Council members and staff discussed next steps but did not take formal action. A council member said the city owns roughly 25% of the ditch shares and that pursuing contacts in Sen. Mike Curtis’s office might help secure matching funds. Another council member suggested staff coordination and said councilors did not need to authorize any spending to allow staff time for grant development.

Council members and staff raised practical details the city would need clarified before committing support: who would hold responsibility for construction and long-term maintenance; whether Provo Canal would take over portions of the work if grant funds were secured; and how any funding match would be arranged. Steve said the Provo Canal users might accept the portion along the canal into their scope if grant money covers construction.

No ordinance, resolution or binding council motion was recorded. The discussion ended with staff and the speaker agreeing to coordinate further and reach out to the identified state contacts.

Ending: Council members encouraged Steve to continue coordination with Provo Canal engineers and to route any formal grant requests through city staff so the council could consider them on a future agenda if needed.