The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-19
Otter Creek Reservoir Project Is
Making Progress.
SOME HEAVY TUNNEL WORK
TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY
FEET THROUGH SOLID ROCK.
Coyote Canal Has Been Secured
Steam Pumping Plant to Drain
Bog-Diphtheria at Pennington
and Richfeld - Preston Man
Casinos a Worthless Check.
Rrom The Herald's correspondents.)

Grom The Herald's Correspondents
Richfield. Feb. 1S.-Philip D. Schoe-
Der, surveyor of Sewer county, has re-
turned from a final professional trip
to TIE site of the Otter creek reservoir
being built by Sewer county irrigation
lists. near Coyote, Piute county The
object of his last junket was to map
out the course of a canal proposed to
tap the east fork Of the Sewer river
and convey its supply to the reservoir.
This survey is now completed and as
soon as the frost has left the ground,
so teams will begin the execution OF the
labor contemplated.
The distance from the Otter creek
reservoir TO the nearest available point
on the Sewer rivers east fork is seven
and one-half miles. Between the two
lies the little camp of Coyote. The
people of that village had already dug
a canal from the river to their ranches,
three miles, and the researchers have
secured the right OF an extension OF
the Coyote canal TO their big artificial
lake four and one-half miles more,
making the total stretch of seven and
one-half miles. On Dec. q last they
posted notices appropriating the water,
and, in accordance with law, per-
formed some work within 40 days after
that date. The canal will be extended
its flow by May l next.
Ralph Fairbanks of Annabella, Sewer
county, is busy in the execution of
contract TO drive a 240-foot tunnel
through solid rock. This is to be the
outlet of the reservoir into the east
fork of the Sewer, through which the
water stored will run down to the
ranches of Sewer county. Contractor
Fairbanks has unexpectedly run into
an exceptionally hard stratum of rock
in his tunnel, and although his agree
ment calls for its completion by Feb.
20, it is probable that the face of the
tunnel will not break into daylight be-
fore the last of March. At the lower
end of the tunnel is an open cut of 40
feet, connecting it with the river below.
This cut varies from one to ten feet
deep. From the tunnels upper end will
run at almost right angles into the
reservoir above a 60-foot open cut,
ranging from one to seven feet in
depth. In all this $40 feet of tunneling
and cuts the fall is only one foot.
Until the outlet is made, workmen
cannot push vigorously the completion
of the dam, and, therefore, only a lit
tie water viii be ready for delivery at
the opening of the irrigation season,
about July l. President Robert D.
Young of the Otter Creek company
says he hardly hopes to see the dam
finished before next Christmas, when
the reservoir will be ready to receive
its full capacity of 41.071 acre-feet of
water Below the 50-feet-long dam,
upon which some work has been done, !
is big bog, fed by springs. The COM
pany's next move, after the tunnel |
outlet is bored through, will be to add
steam pumps and dry the swamp suf- /
fciently to reach a firm footing for the +
core-wall II feet below the dam proper ]
This wall will be made of a concrete /
of two parts of gravel and one of .
earth.