After nearly a decade of planning, construction of a 232 acre reservoir amid the red sandstone cliffs and mesas of southern Utah is under way. About 200 Kane County dignitaries and Kanab-area residents turned out Friday for a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off construction of a $12 million, 45 foot-high, 4,430 foot-long earthen dam. Once complete, the dam will create the Jackson Flat Reservoir. Water for the reservoir will be diverted from Kanab Creek.
The project is being jointly funded by the Kane County Water Conservancy District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Utah State Division of Water Resources.Construction of the dam is expected to be complete in 2011. Officials say filling the reservoir with roughly 4,228 acre feet of water will take about two years. The conservancy district has been working for nearly a decade on the project, which is being built so farmers, ranchers and some residents will have adequate irrigation water year-round. The Deseret News
