For more than a century, the Strawberry Water Users Association (SWUA) has delivered irrigation water across southern Utah County. Its system now serves approximately 42,500 acres in Spanish Fork, Payson, Santaquin, Genola, Mapleton, and Springville, including water users represented by the High Line Canal Company, East Bench Canal Company, and Spanish Fork Irrigation Company. The same water also supports hydroelectric generation for the local community.

At the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon, the SWUA Power Canal carries water from the Spanish Fork River to a forebay that removes sediment, controls flow to the hydroelectric plant, and serves as the diversion and headworks for the High Line Canal Company. By the time SWUA began planning its replacement, the structure had been operating since 1912. Increasing maintenance needs and aging concrete made a new forebay essential to keeping water and power moving reliably.

Franson Civil worked with SWUA to design and construct the replacement while limiting downtime for irrigators and power generation. Our work included:

• Providing preliminary, conceptual, and final design

• Coordinating with the Bureau of Reclamation

• Supporting bidding, contract administration, construction management, and construction observation

• Using hydraulic modeling to design angled floors and walls for effective sediment sluicing under changing flow conditions

• Designing for:

  • 12 to nearly 20 feet of backfill,

  • a confined site

  • steep slopes

  • excavation access

  • off-site staging

  • connections to existing concrete

• Adapting the design during construction when demolition uncovered an upstream wall without a footing and a manhole base dating to the original construction

SWUA began its water delivery season on schedule, avoiding extended interruptions for irrigators and hydroelectric operations. The new forebay moves sediment more effectively, gives operators better control, and reduces the recurring repairs and maintenance demands of the previous structure. For SWUA, those improvements mean less staff time spent managing an aging facility and a more dependable system for delivering water and generating power. For the farmers, irrigation companies, and communities it serves, the project protects the reliable service they depend on.