Soldier Creek Dam

Soldier Creek Dam
Location	Wasatch County, Utah, United States
Coordinates	40°08′12″N 111°01′38″W
Construction began	1970
Opening date	1974
Owner(s)	U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earthfill
Impounds	Strawberry River
Height	272 ft (83 m)[1]
Length	1,290 ft (390 m)[1]
Elevation at crest	7,612 ft (2,320 m)[1]
Reservoir
Creates	Strawberry Reservoir
Total capacity	1,127,610 acre⋅ft (1.39089 km^3)[2]
Catchment area	170 sq mi (440 km^2)[2]
Surface area	17,300 acres (7,000 ha)[2]

Soldier Creek Dam is an earthen dam on the Strawberry River, located within the Uinta National Forest in southern Wasatch County, Utah, United States.

Description

The dam forms Strawberry Reservoir and is a principal feature of the Strawberry Valley Project, part of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. The dam and reservoir were built and operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR).[3]

Constructed between 1970 and 1974, the dam replaced the earlier Strawberry Dam, built slightly upstream of the current site from 1911 to 1913. The new dam increased the storage capacity of Strawberry Reservoir from 283,000 acre-feet (0.349 km^3) to more than 1,120,000 acre-feet (1.38 km^3).[4] The primary purpose of the dam is to store flows from the upper Strawberry River, as well as water diverted from eight tributaries of the Duchesne River, for diversion through the Strawberry Tunnel to supplement water supplies in the Utah Valley. Water from the Strawberry Tunnel eventually outlets into Sixth Water Canyon, the Diamond Fork (stream) and finally the Spanish Fork (river) before flowing into Utah Lake.[3][5]

Soldier Creek Dam is a zoned earthfill embankment 272 feet (83 m) high and 1,290 feet (390 m) long, with a structural volume of 3,206,000 cubic yards (2,451,000 m^3).[1] Water releases from the dam are controlled by outlet works with a bypass capacity of 2,830 cu ft/s (80 m^3/s). The dam controls runoff from a drainage area of 170 square miles (440 km^2).[6]

See also

• List of dams and reservoirs in Utah

References

1. "Soldier Creek Dam Dimensions". Central Utah Project–Bonneville Unit. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
2. "Soldier Creek Dam". National Performance of Dams Program. Stanford University. Retrieved 17 Aug 2012.
3. "Central Utah Project - Bonneville Unit". Central Utah Project. United States Bureau of Reclamation. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 17 Aug 2012.
4. Eastman, Adam R. "Central Utah Project Bonneville Unit" (PDF). Historic Reclamation Projects Book. United States Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved 18 Aug 2012.
5. Stene, Eric A. "The Strawberry Valley Project". Spanish Fork River Drainage. Retrieved 17 Aug 2012.
6. "Soldier Creek Dam Hydraulics & Hydrology". Central Utah Project–Bonneville Unit. United States Bureau of Reclamation. 8 Apr 2009. Retrieved 17 Aug 2012.

External links

Media related to Soldier Creek Dam at Wikimedia Commons