MUDDY CREEK - AREA 94

Updated: April 16, 2002

DESCRIPTION:        Ranging from T19S to T28S in the easternmost part of Sevier County and the southwestern corner of Emery County.  This area=s major stream is Muddy Creek from its headwater tributaries to its confluence with the Fremont River near Hanksville, where the two sources form the Dirty Devil River.  This area is bordered on the north by the San Rafael River drainage, on the east by the San Rafael Desert, on the south by the Fremont River drainage, and on the west by the Wasatch Plateau.  The highest point in the area is 11,533 foot Hilgard Mountain in the Wasatch Plateau, while the lowest is at the confluence of Muddy Creek and the Fremont River at about 4,250 feet, giving a total relief of about 7,280 feet.  Click here to see a map of the area.

MANAGEMENT:     A Proposed Determination of Water Rights book was compiled and published in 1987.  No pre-trial or final decree has been issued.  There is one state-administered distribution system in this area, the Muddy Creek Distribution System administered by the Muddy Creek Commissioner.  Because this area is part of the Colorado River basin, the conditions of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the 1944 Mexican Treaty and the 1948 Upper Colorado River Compact apply.  Click here to see statistics for this area.

SOURCES:
SURFACE WATER - Surface waters of the area are considered to be fully appropriated.  New diversions and consumptive uses in these sources must be accomplished by change applications filed on owned or acquired rights.  Changes are being made on irrigation company shares on Cottonwood Creek.  Exchanges on said shares are being accepted.  Non-consumptive use applications, such as hydroelectric power generation, are considered on their individual merits.  Fixed-time and temporary applications are considered on their individual merits, with emphasis on their potential to interfere with existing rights.  Applicants are placed on notice that development should be pursued as soon as possible, and requests for extensions of time in which to file proof will be critically reviewed after an initial five year period.

GROUND WATER - There are some limited ground-water resources available.  Permanent applications in valley locations are generally limited to sufficient acre-foot amounts to serve the domestic purposes of one family, the irrigation of one acre, and a reasonable amount of stockwatering in areas where water is not available from a municipal or subdivision supply.  Canyon and mountain areas which supply water for major irrigation diversions are closed, except under exchange applications on irrigation company shares with conditions as described above.  Change applications altering the source from surface to underground, or vice versa, are considered on their individual merits, with emphasis on their potential to interfere with existing rights and to ensure that there is no enlargement of the underlying rights.  Fixed-time and temporary applications are evaluated in a similar fashion.  Applicants are placed on notice that development should be pursued as soon as possible, and requests for extensions of time in which to file proof will be critically reviewed after an initial five year period.

GENERAL:                Applications are advertised in the Emery County Progress.  The general irrigation diversion duty for this area, which the State Engineer uses for evaluation purposes, is 4.0 acre-feet per acre per year.  The consumptive use requirement is determined from the publication Consumptive Use of Irrigated Crops in Utah, Research Report 145, Utah State University, 1994, unless the applicant submits other data for consideration.  This area is administered by the Southeastern Regional Office in Price.

REFERENCES:         Technical Publication No. 15, Water from Bedrock in the Colorado Plateau of Utah; Utah State Engineer; 1966.

Three-dimensional Digital-Computer Model of the Ferron Sandstone Aquifer near Emery, Utah; Water-Resources Investigations Report 80-62; U.S. Geological Survey; 1980.

Ground-Water Flow in the Navajo Sandstone in Parts of Emery, Grand, Carbon, Wayne, Garfield, and Kane Counties, Southeast Utah; Water-Resources Investigations Report 86-4012; U.S. Geological Survey; 1986.

MODELING:            Ferron Sandstone Ground-water Flow Model, 1980

Navajo Sandstone Ground-water Flow Model, 1986