Canal and Reservoir Automation History
Construction on Joe's Valley Reservoir began in 1963. Work on Cottonwood Creek and Huntington Canal also began that year. The bid for the Swasey Diversion Dam was awarded in 1964 to R.A. Heintz Construction Company of Portland. Swasey Diversion Dam is located 10 miles downstream from Joe's Valley Reservoir. All major features of the project were complete by the first half of 1966. After completing the construction, Reclamation turned the water management over to the Emery Water Conservancy District.
In 1993, at the request of the Emery Water Conservancy District and the Castle Valley Special Service District, the Provo Projects Office (Reclamation) assisted with the upgrading of existing water measurement facilities on Ferron Creek, Huntington Creek, Cottonwood Creek, San Rafael River, and features of the Emery county Project (see project history for details).
The lack of accurate and timely information on the state of the water supply and distribution systems, as well as, comparsion with respect to where water is with where it should be, resulted in frustrations with water management; especially since the county had experienced a 6-year drought in previous years. It was obvious that a more responsive measurement and control system was needed if water management was to improve. Reclamation worked to develop a plan that would improve water management.
The goal of Reclamation's draught project was to design and install a comprehensive real-time (radio telemetry) hydrologic data collection and control system for the Emery Water Conservancy District and the Castle Dale Special Service District. The system was intended to improve the responsiveness of the water delivery system. The system was designed to be expandable and has continued to grow since the initial setup.
A base station for the collection, storage, display, and dissemination of "real-time" and historic data was established at the EWCD office. EWCD staff remodeled their building to provide a room for all the real-time computer equipment. They originally installed two telephone lines and currently have a DSL line to the office that is specifically used for data monitoring and collection. Outside their office, the EWCD staff installed a 30-foot tower with antenna. The antenna has an RF-to-telephone (refer to Figure 1 for a diagram of the communications network) interface attached at the base. Weather sensors are also installed on the tower (See Photograph 1). Two repeaters were installed in the mountains above Huntington and Castle Dale to improve communications.
Initially, data collection equipment was installed in existing gauging stations along various canals, creeks, and rivers - 17 sites in all. The EWCD purchased almost all of the equipment for the real-time system and assisted with and directed all aspects of the installation. Monitoring equipment was also installed at two different springs. Since the initial installation, the system has grown to over 70 stations with sensors of all types. In addition, the EWCD has real-time control on two structures and plans to automate two more.
