| Emery Water Conservancy District Hydrologic Web Site System Description | ||
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The San Rafeal River is said to be the life blood of the county. The river originates in the Wasatch Plateau. The headwaters are stored in several reservoirs used for agricultural and industrial use. The river flows into Castle Valley in three branches; Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ferron Creek. These three branches unite to form the San Rafael River after passing through the communities and farm land. The river makes it way through the rock and desert until it eventually becomes a tributary to the Green River.
There are three main reservoirs in the county: Joe's Valley Dam and Reservoir, Millsite Reservoir, and Huntington North Dam. Joe's Valley is the largest reservoir, with a storage capacity of 62,460 acre-feet. Millsite is a 435-acre reservoir at the base of Ferron Canyon with a storage capacity of 18,000 acre-feet. The Huntington North Dam and Reservoir has a storage capacity of 5,420 acre-feet and is mainly used to control the diversion of water into the Huntington North Service Canal.
The Emery county Project supplies 6,000 acre-feet of water for coal fired electric power generation. In addition to providing water for the power plants in Emery county, the water is used by farmers to irrigate their land. Agriculture in the area tends to center around the livestock industry. More than 90% of the irrigated area is producing hay and grain.
As is usually the case, the quality of water is highest at the upper reaches of the drainages and deteriorates as it flows downstream. Salinity measurement instruments have not been installed yet, however, the state reported salinity measurements (from surface water) in 1997. The totals were as follows:
Cottonwood Creek near Orangeville 227 mg/L
Ferron Creek near Ferron 227 mg/L
Huntington Creek near Huntington 193 mg/L
Muddy Creek near Emery 219 mg/L.
San Rafael River near Castle Dale 2,542 mg/L
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