History

In 1924 the Bureau of Reclamation and the Utah State Water Storage Commission gave approval to construct a dam and reservoir at Echo. Construction of Echo Dam began November 26, 1927 and was completed in 1931.

Weber River Water Users Association is a non-profit company organized on January 9, 1926 for the purpose of purchasing, leasing, acquiring and constructing dams and appurtenant water facilities. WRWUA is governed by a non member board of Directors.


Weber River water was the first used by new settlers for irrigation in about 1848, when Utah was still a territory. By 1896 when Utah became a state, more than 100 canal companies had begun to divert water from the river or its tributaries, establishing rights to all of the normal summer flows. By 1900, about 3,000 acres of land were irrigated from the Weber and Ogden rivers. The fertile soil and the favorable climate made it possible to raise fruits and vegetables of excellent quality even through Utah is a desert region and ranks as the second driest state in the nation. However, as more land was developed and the water diversions increased, the late summer natural flows were not sufficient to irrigate all of the land.

Storage of spring flood flows was undertaken to overcome shortages during the late irrigation season and drought periods. The 3,850 acre foot East Canyon Reservoir was constructed by DWCCC in 1884 on East Canyon Creek as one of the first water storage projects. The reservoir was enlarged in 1900 to 8,500 acre feet, then in 1902 to 13,800 acre feet, and then from 1915 to 1916 to 29,000 acre feet, Numerous smaller reservoirs, ranging in size to approximately 1,900 acre feet in capacity, were also constructed by irrigation companies during this early storage development period.

On January 3, 1922, Reclamation and the Utah Water Storage Commission signed a contract that provided for Federal investigations of irrigation projects in the Weber River drainage basin. These studies culminated in the construction of three Federal Reclamation projects: the Weber River Project