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Proposed Honeyville Dam would flood Indian burial sites and excellent farmland By
Reuben Wadsworth
Because of a law passed by the Utah State Legislature in 1991, a dam will likely go up near Honeyville. A presentation and a tour of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge sponsored by the Utah Rivers Council a week ago educated the public on the effects that dam may cause. The proposed Honeyville Dam would inundate 13,000 acres of the best farmland in Utah, Utah Rivers Council Executive Director Zack Frankel told a crowd of close to 50 people at Hansen Park in Elwood. If built, the dam would also bury two homes and a spring that supplies Tremonton with water. Another dam is planned near Amalga in Cache County. In addition to the loss of farmland, the dam would ruin Shoshone Indian burial sites. Shoshone Tribe Cultural Resource Director Patti Madsen said she would like to see those sites preserved because if destroyed, she won't be able to show them to posterity. "As a descendant of those people, I feel it is my duty to protect them," she said. The two dams and the treatment plant that would be built along with them would cost about $1 billion, Frankel said. The project's output would mainly be used to supply water for residents of Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City is one the highest per-capita water users in the nation and has some of the lowest water prices, he said. According to Frankel, about 60 percent of that water is used to maintain lawns. "There is so much water being wasted in the Salt Lake Valley it's not funny," he said. According to Frankel, building the two dams would be contradictory because other options could be utilized to supply Salt Lake County residents with enough water. Approximately 100,000 acre feet of water in Salt Lake County once used for agriculture is still being diverted into canals but isn't being utilized. Water experts say Salt Lake County residents could reduce their water use by 25 percent without removing even an acre of lawn. Frankel said Salt Lake County could obtain Central Utah Project (CUP) water for considerably less than the cost of the proposed dam of the Bear River. According to Frankel, utilizing these three options -- canal water, 25 percent use reduction and CUP resources -- would furnish Salt Lakers with enough water for their use without needing to construct new dams. "We're working to kill this project," he said. The Bear River supplies 60 percent of the water to the Great Salt Lake. The proposed dam would divert away 20 percent of that water -- and such effects would be devastating to wildlife, Frankel explained. The Bear River supplies the wetlands in the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge with water. In an average year, 19 out of 20 acres of wetland are dried up by the end of the summer, but this year will be worse because of the drought, Frankel said. The situation might be much worse if a third of that water never even reached the refuge, he explained. Frankel said those wanting to voice their concerns to try to stop the project should write letters to the editor and educate their elected officials. A few Salt Lake County officials as well as council members from cities throughout the valley were on hand to hear the presentation.
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