Red Creek Fields Irrigation Project Phase I
Project ID: 7984
Status: Proposed
Fiscal Year: 2027
Submitted By: N/A
Project Manager: Dallon Christensen
PM Agency: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
PM Office: Northeastern Region
Lead: Utah Division of Water Resources
WRI Region: Northeastern
Description:
This project will be the first step in developing an irrigation system to better utilize water rights belonging to the Utah DWR. The Red Creek fields are currently flood irrigated, funding is being requested to engineer and design a pressurized system that will allow the water to be used more efficiently and to grow more forage for wildlife.
Location:
This project is located on the Tabby Mountain WMA in Northeastern Utah. The fields are in the Red Creek drainage just below the Red Creek Reservoir.
Project Need
Need For Project:
The current irrigation system for the Red Creek fields only allows for flood irrigating. Because of the soil type and slope of the fields, soil erosion is an issue. Several small gullies have formed and care must be taken to keep them from growing. A pressurized system would allow for a more even and calculated distribution of water across them. The vegetation being grown in the fields could also be changed to be more beneficial to wildlife. The fields mainly consist of grasses and rabbit brush at this time. Growing other crops, such as alfalfa or small grains, would provide more nutrition and overall forage to those wildlife species that use the area.
Objectives:
The proposed project will be the design and permitting phase of implementing a better irrigation system for the fields. An engineer will be needed to calculate the pressure demands, pipe size, and all other aspects for a fully functioning irrigation system. Funding granted will be used to make all plans and preparations for the project.
Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?):
This project is located in the Red Creek fields area of the Tabby Mountain WMA in Northeastern Utah. The fields are located just south of Red Creek Reservoir. Water used to irrigate the fields comes from a filing owned by the Utah DWR. The fields and irrigation system have been in need of improvements for many years, improving them will provide a great benefit to wildlife. The fields are in a migration corridor used by thousands of deer and elk that migrate from the Strawberry/Current Creek summering areas to the Tabby Mountain/Rabbit Gulch wintering areas.
Relation To Management Plan:
Improving the irrigation system will allow for the fields to be more beneficial to wildlife, specifically Mule Deer. We are currently under objective on the Wasatch Mtns, Current Creek deer unit. The fields are located in line with the migration path of thousands of deer. Providing more forage, and specifically more quality forage for these deer during stressful times of the year will help survival.
Fire / Fuels:
This project will provide an irrigated field surrounded by thousands of acres of rangeland. It will allow for the vegetation that is currently in the fields (which includes some cheat grass) to be replaced by irrigated crops that may be more fire resistant.
Water Quality/Quantity:
Moving from flood irrigation to a pressurized irrigation system will greatly increase the efficiency of the water being used. More acres will be irrigated with the same amount of water. It will also greatly reduce the risk of soil erosion that is currently present.
Compliance:
The proposed project will fund any permitting requirements for the implementation and installation of the irrigation system.
Methods:
This project will allow the DWR to hire a qualified person or company to engineer and design a new pressurized irrigation system for the Red Creek fields. Funding would also cover all permitting requirements to be fulfilled by qualified individuals.
Monitoring:
The design and implementation will be monitored by the NER's Wildlife Section.
Partners:
This project occurs on DWR owned lands with DWR owned water rights.
Future Management:
Once the irrigation system is designed and all proper permitting is done, installation of the system will be the next phase of the project.
Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources:
Crops grown in the fields may be share-cropped with local ag producers.
Budget WRI/DWR Other Budget Total In-Kind Grand Total
$730,000.00 $0.00 $730,000.00 $0.00 $730,000.00
Item Description WRI Other In-Kind Year
Contractual Services FY28 Construction of Irrigation System $685,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 2028
Contractual Services Engineering for irrigation infrastructure $45,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 2027
Funding WRI/DWR Other Funding Total In-Kind Grand Total
$730,000.00 $0.00 $730,000.00 $0.00 $730,000.00
Source Phase Description Amount Other In-Kind Year
Habitat Council Account $45,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 2027
Habitat Council Account $685,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 2028
Species
Species "N" Rank HIG/F Rank
Elk R2
Threat Impact
Droughts Low
Elk R2
Threat Impact
Not Listed NA
Wild Turkey R1
Threat Impact
Droughts Medium
Wild Turkey R1
Threat Impact
Not Listed NA
Mule Deer R1
Threat Impact
Droughts Medium
Mule Deer R1
Threat Impact
Not Listed NA
Habitats
Habitat
Project Comments
Comment 01/12/2026 Type: 1 Commenter: Makeda Hanson
This project is within a very heavily utilized migration corridor. This portion of the WMA is also an important stop-over along the migration path. It may be valuable to add a quick screenshot demonstrating this in the images/document section.
Completion
Start Date:
End Date:
FY Implemented:
Final Methods:
Project Narrative:
Future Management:
Map Features
ID Feature Category Action Treatement/Type
15748 Affected Area
Project Map
Project Map