Warner Valley Reservoir

Canal Piping / Washington Fields / Warner Reservoir / Agricultural Development

As municipal development increases, particularly in areas where development occurs on former agricultural lands, agricultural uses will decrease. Concurrently, water for agricultural is no longer needed and can be converted to municipal uses. All such conversions will be voluntary actions on the part of the agricultural users. Some of this water, particularly the large quantities coming into the Virgin River at or below Pah Tempe hot springs, is not of potable quality and thus can only be used for secondary purposes in lawns, gardens, golf courses, parks and similar facilities.

Meanwhile, the St. George and Washington Canal Company is replacing approximately 9.2 miles of open canal with a pipeline, which will conserve water from ditch loss and evaporation and allow more efficient watering systems to be developed over time. Over time, additional open ditch systems may be converted to pipelines.

Water in the Virgin River below Pah Tempe can be stored in a reservoir at the mouth of Warner Valley, allowing more efficient management of this water for secondary and other purposes. Currently, excess water that cannot be taken into the Quail Cree/Sand Hollow system through the diversion structure travels down river to Lake Mead. This water could be preserved for management options which include providing targeted instream flows for the endangered woundfin minnow and Virgin river chub. Warner Valley has been under consideration as a potential reservoir site since 1977. This water could be managed to provide tradeoffs between instream flows and water for the St. George and Washington Canal (Washington Fields), making more efficient use of the water for both purposes, as well as providing a regulating pond for a secondary water system in the St. George Washington Fields.

The cumulative benefits of these activities could yield approximately 15,000 AF of water.