top of page

There are seeps in Deer Valley that helps to fill Navajo Lake. Snow melt and rain fill the depression in this meadow and then drain into the Lake.

The tops of the mountains are covered from up to 6 miles in the surrounding area. You'll see that much of the meadows are underlain with lava stones that create the drainage holes. So do all underground rivers flow through these lava stones?

At Cascade Falls, the outflow of Navajo Lake, the headwaters for the North fork of the Virgin River flows through Zion National Park.

Federal Government Repairing Dam...

" We expect the Dam to be repaired by November 23"

This last summer government agencies have invited the public to brainstorm solutions for the leaky dike (DAM) at Navajo Lake, leaks that could take a few years and millions of dollars to plug.

But Sonny Reisig, manager at Navajo Lake lodge and general store proposes a simpler solution.

"These government agencies, they want to paperwork things to death," he said. "I say, phooey on all that. All you need is a dump truck and a backhoe." A contractor got the job last time for around $18,000, he said.

It seems Mr. Reisig was correct in his assessment and work has started.

Yet, representatives of the state Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service doubt a long-term solution will be that simple. Repairing the earthen dam right could cost more than $2 million, they say.

"There's a lot of energy and enthusiasm to find a solution," said Kenton Call, a spokesman for the Dixie National Forest, which owns the land surrounding the lake.

"It's gonna take some time; it's gonna take some environmental analysis; it's gonna take some planning," he said. "We want to see something move forward because these communities have had a rough time of it."

The lake, east of Cedar City near Duck Creek Village, is popular for boating, swimming and fishing. It's a draw for Las Vegans eager for fresh mountain air, recreation and beautiful scenery, said Cindy Allen, a real estate agent who makes Duck Creek her home year-round.

But, between the shrinking lake, with its unsightly shorelines, and the part-time closure of State Route 14, where a rock slide ripped out the pavement last fall, the community sees speedy results as essential.

"It's devastating our community in Duck Creek Village," she said.

Allen said she will press state and federal agencies Tuesday to make a short-term repair and long-term ones as well. Were the troubles at high-profile Brian Head or Springdale, both repairs would have been done long ago, she said.

"But since it's Duck Creek," she added, "we're completely left in the dust."

Richard Hepworth at the state wildlife agency insists both long- and short-term repairs are under consideration. But he notes that leaks have been a periodic problem since the locals constructed the earthen dam in 1930 as a way to shore up a natural lake that sometimes went dry.

Meanwhile, the best estimates at this point suggest lasting repairs would take another three years and cost more than $2 million, said Hepworth. "There needs to be a long-term fix up there," he said. "And that's going to be expensive."

fahys@sltrib.com

Twitter: @judyfutah —

Navajo Lake • Fishing and other fun at the leaky lake....The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources notes that breaches have been a problem at the half-mile-long lake since it was originally built in 1930. Six times the dike has failed and each time there have been repairs or a dike-raising.  The area sees about 2,500 campers a year, plus about 66,000 car visits over the summer season. Private cabins are supplemented with 12 rentals managed by the Navajo Lake Lodge.

This year in 2013, the wildlife office estimates it will stock the usual 20,000 Rainbow trout, brown trout and splake. But they have lifted the usual four-a-day catch limit and are allowing eight. More than 6,000 anglers tried their luck on the lake last summer, according to an agency survey.

Navajo water comes from a 6 mile runoff ...

UPDATE:​

DAM  REPAIR has started and is slated to be completed by Nov. 23,  2012.

NAVAJO  LAKE  DAM  REPAIR

bottom of page