Dear Irrigation Customer,
The Agency board met on March 19th and voted to begin the 2026 irrigation system on Wednesday, April 1st with a 50% restriction on allotted water.
We will begin filling the system on the morning of the 1st. Please turn your system valves off prior to the morning of the 1st to prevent damage to your irrigation lines.
Currently Ken’s Lake has 893-acre feet in storage, which is 34%. The current forecasted runoff is at 15-20% of average. As of March 18th, we are at 32% of Snow-water-equivalent and 72% of average precipitation for the water year.
Agency staff will continuously monitor the situation, and restrictions will be adjusted accordingly. The staff and board recognize and appreciate everyone’s conservation efforts and thoughtful management of our water resource. In our severe situation this year please only use what is needed to allow your landscapes to survive the summer season.
We will start supplemental irrigation wells pumping on startup to meet demands, pumping/electrical charges will be assessed at the end of the season and will be based on the amount of usage per customer. The 50% restriction is a hard stop and once reached customer services will be turned off, there will be no overages allowed.
If you have any questions regarding the water situation, please call our office at 259-8121 or come to one of our regularly scheduled board meetings. They are being held on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Agency office. Updates are available at www.grandwatersewerut.gov. Staff will send updated letters as needed.
Thank you,
Ben Musselman
The Story of Ken's Lake
A multi-use, multi-functional reservoir that benefits the people of Grand and San Juan Counties.
GWSSA provides irrigation water to a mix of Ken’s Lake Irrigation shareholders and Residential Secondary Irrigation (RSI) customers totaling approximately 255 customers through Ken’s Lake and two irrigation wells situated in the Valley Fill Aquifer (VFA). Initial concepts for Plainfield Dam, later named Ken’s Lake for K.E. McDougald, were to mitigate flooding through Moab via Millcreek. After several years of options and ideas, it was determined that the flooding could be in part mitigated while also creating a recreational area for locals and visitors. Another benefit of this would be to provide water for agricultural production to at least 7,300 acres of land in the Spanish Valley area through the construction of Ken’s Lake.
Ken’s lake was constructed from 1979-1981. The lake itself is constructed above fracture zones in the sandstone base which were grouted, and a clay liner was installed during construction.
The water in Ken’s Lake is diverted with a structure in Millcreek and is routed through the Sheeley Tunnel to the area known as Faux Falls, which is southeast of the lake. The Sheeley Tunnel is named for Horace Sheeley, who according to some, had hoped to supply water through the tunnel and a flume to the area below Blue Hill for farming. His plan was abandoned somewhere near halfway through the 645-foot tunnel project and was later completed with the construction of Ken’s Lake.
Water to fill Ken’s Lake comes from the Millcreek drainage through cooperation with Moab Irrigation Company (MIC). The MIC right is for 19.33 CFS. The BLM Right of way obtained to run water to Kens Lake stipulated that the Diversion in Millcreek maintain a downstream flow of 3 CFS to maintain flow in Mill Creek to the point it joins the North Fork of Mill Creek.
While some remaining capacity exists for service from Ken’s Lake, GWSSA hopes to work with area water partners to bring additional water resources to help maintain levels and increase our area of service for irrigation.