Water Management – Poster Presentations

Details about each presentation and the speakers are below:

In this session:

Deer Creek Intake Project - Keeping Utah's Fresh Water Flowing

When Channels, Not Turbines, Set the Limit: Modeling Discharge Capacity in an International Boundary Water

Deer Creek Intake Project - Keeping Utah's Fresh Water Flowing
Presented by Pat Kalisz, Granite Construction; Elliott Bartell, Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, LCC (AE2S); and Ian Radcliffe, J.F. Brennan Company, Inc.

The Deer Creek Dam, located on the Provo River just to the southwest of Heber City, provides hydropower generation, fresh drinking water, and agricultural irrigation water to much of the Salt Lake Valley and beyond. It is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and operated by the Provo River Water Users Association.

The purpose of the project was to recondition/rehabilitate the guard gates located inside the existing penstocks that had been in operation since the construction of the dam in the early 1930s.

When Channels, Not Turbines, Set the Limit: Modeling Discharge Capacity in an International Boundary Water
Presented by Jennifer Jones, Kleinschmidt Associates

Many international boundary waters require coordinated regulation between the United States and Canada to meet treaty-mandated water-level and discharge requirements. For a project located along the U.S.-Canada border, a century-old treaty governs lake elevations and downstream releases, including a required minimum discharge of 1,330.9 m?/s (47,000 cfs) once the lake reaches elevation 323.4 m (1,061.0 ft).

Two hydroelectric generating stations serve as the primary outlets from this lake to the downstream river and play a central role in meeting these binational obligations.

This presentation summarizes a comprehensive 2D hydraulic analysis completed using HEC-RAS to evaluate whether the combined discharge capacity of both generating stations can meet treaty-mandated flows under current hydraulic, operational, and channel morphology conditions. The model incorporated high-resolution bathymetry, recent survey data, and detailed structural geometry. A critical component of the study was calibration of modeled water surface elevations at high flows, using available historical data and operational records to ensure realistic representation of hydraulic controls, tailwater conditions, and system behavior at and above treaty thresholds.

Model results demonstrate that upstream channel hydraulics, natural constrictions, and tailwater submergence significantly influence the total discharge that can be safely and reliably conveyed. At the treaty-defined lake elevation, the combined modeled discharge capacity of the two generating stations falls slightly below the required minimum flow. Findings were presented to generating station owners and binational agency representatives to support a shared technical understanding and coordinated decision-making.

Key takeaways for attendees include practical approaches for calibrating 2D hydraulic models at high flows, identifying non-structural discharge limitations in regulated systems, and communicating complex modeling results to multi-owner and international stakeholders. The study demonstrates that natural channel morphology, not just infrastructure, determines regulatory compliance. It offers a robust framework for assessing operational strategies and future improvements for high-flow conveyance, strengthening the basis for binational regulatory discussions and coordinated management of shared water systems.

This session takes place in the Learning Center, which is sponsored by:

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