Provo River Water Users details Deer Creek intake project progress and funding at Highland City meeting

Provo River Water Users Association officials described steady progress this week on the Deer Creek Intake Project and outlined how the $100 million program is being paid for.

The update Wednesday to the Highland City Council summarized work completed through the project’s second year, including excavation and the successful recovery of a micro-tunnel boring machine the presenters called the “Wasatch worm.” Provo River Water Users General Manager Jeff Budge and association representative Brad Jorgensen said the machine reached its target almost dead center during an underwater “wet recovery.”

Why it matters: the intake and bypass piping are intended to let crews bypass the existing intake so crews can refurbish century-old guard gates and other intake infrastructure — work the association says is needed to maintain water supplies and downstream deliveries to irrigation and municipal shareholders.

Budge described the project as necessary to ensure reliable delivery of stored mountain water to downstream users and said the work will allow crews to isolate and repair the older intake structure next year. “This next year, they’ll be completing the rest of the tie in vault, putting the piping,” Budge said. Association representative Brad Jorgensen added that the bypass piping and tunneling components included steel segments fabricated in Missouri and specialty coatings applied on site.

Project scope and tech details: presenters said a micro-tunnel boring machine (MTBM) was used to bore the bypass line; the contractor installed 20-foot pipe sections joined with proprietary Tri-Lock joints and used bentonite lubrication ports during drives and grouting afterward. Jorgensen said divers installed a temporary headwall and helped recover the MTBM, and that crews welded a redundant cap on the bypass pipe until final tie-in work next year. The internal pipe surface received an epoxy coating inspected by coating specialists.

Funding: Budge and Jorgensen explained the association bonded for a portion of the cost, secured a $69 million loan from the Utah Board of Water Resources, and said Central Utah Project interests (which operate Jordanelle) and other shareholders pay portions tied to their shares. Budge said the association obtained a $4 million state grant but that the grant contains conditions requiring identification of 35,000 acre-feet that could be delivered to the Great Salt Lake as part of broader state conservation goals. “We’ve had to bond for the full hundred million dollars of the project. We do have the $4,000,000 grant,” Budge said, and he described ongoing negotiations with the state about how to meet the grant’s conditions without violating water-right rules or disadvantaging shareholders.

Council Q&A and local impacts: council members asked about who pays and how allocations are affected by storage and yearly runoff. Budge said allocations and stored carryover make a difference year to year and that much of Highland’s stored water is in Jordanelle rather than Deer Creek. When a council member asked for a single-number cost, Budge replied, “It’s a hundred million dollar price.” Officials noted the association and contractors are coordinating with nearby cities and property owners, and Budge thanked local staff and neighboring jurisdictions for assistance during a flooding incident on the Murdock Canal last year.

Next steps and outreach: presenters said tunneling and bypass piping work continues and that further tie-ins and guard-gate refurbishment are scheduled next year; they said a public video and project updates are available online and that the board anticipates at least one public celebration or ribbon-cutting after major milestones. Council members and staff said they will continue to coordinate with the association on timing and public outreach.

Quotes in context: the article only attributes direct quotes to meeting speakers as recorded in the transcript. Technical and funding descriptions in the story come from the Provo River Water Users presentation and council Q&A during the Highland City Council meeting on April 15, 2024.

Ending: Council members thanked the association for the presentation and for working with residents after last year’s flooding; officials said they would continue to monitor project updates and funding discussions with state agencies.