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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Project Need <br /> <br />The plans for the construction of the Buckeye Reservoir Dam wns presented to the <br />State Engineer in 1910 and the plans for the original construction cillled for an <br />8,500 acre foot reservoir. For some reason, unknown to us at this time, the <br />reservoir was never completed to its original design height, nor was the crest <br />of the dam constructed to a uniform grade and no provision was made for a spill- <br />way. When flood waters overtop the crest of the dam the wilter runs over the dam <br />without benefit of a spillway <br /> <br />The outlet works, consisting of an outlet gate and conduit, ilre in a deteriorating <br />condition and should be replaced. The particular design of the gate is no longer <br />being made and no replacement pnrts are available without l'xpcnsivc custom machin- <br />ing. The gate is operated on the do,<ostreilm side of the dam through il series of <br />worm gears and universal joints. An emergency operating nut is located at the <br />gate in the event of a failure of the rod, working gears, or universal joints. In <br />order to operate the gate from the emergency operating nut on the face of the gate <br />the operating nut must be "fished for" or located by a diver. During emergencies, <br />water flooding over the crest of the dam, a failure of the gate operating system <br />could be the source of a very expensive disaster. <br /> <br />Flood water damage in the Paradox is not critical. There is, however; some minor <br />erosion and flood water damage caused by early spring snow melt run-off. These <br />minor damages would be reduced by providing additional unstream storage. Even <br />though the rehabilitation of the Buckeye Reservoir Dam will not create additional <br />flood water storage, the construction of the Buckeye Reservoir Dam to a uniform <br />grade will provide a surcharge on the reservoir and provide for a more controlled <br />discharge during times of flooding. <br /> <br />The primary problem in the Paradox Valley is due to a lack of il stable irrigation <br />water supply. The proposed project would allow the irrigators in the Paradox Val- <br />ley to increase their present restricted water storage of 900 acre foot to 1,600 <br />acre feet and, even though there would be occasional water shortages, provide <br />a more stable source of irrigation water supply. This proposed project would not <br />supply water to the lands which have not been irrigated in the past. <br /> <br />Benefit to Cost Ratio <br /> <br />It is extremely difficult to estimate the benefits a stable dam with a properly <br />designed and constructed spillway would have over a dam with no spillway and the <br />potential of failing caused by flood waters overtopping the dam's crest. Should <br />waters from a substantial flood be impounded in the Buckeye Reservoir and the crest <br />of the dam overtopped by the flood waters and the dam itself eroded to a point of <br />failure during the flood, considerable damage would result in the Manti-La Salle <br />National Forest, the farm grounds in the Paradox Valley, and the loss of the Buck- <br />eye Reservoir Dam. <br /> <br />Rather than estimate the damages in the National Forest and the farm grounds this <br />report will consider only the cost of replacing the dam which impounds water <br />the Buckeye Reservoir. <br /> <br />Consider flood waters overtopping the crest of the Buckeye Dam at velocities and <br />quantities great enough to initiate erosion. As the erosion continues the flood <br /> <br />VIII-3 <br />