From last Thursday to Monday, more than 2.5 inches of precipitation were recorded in Tooele, according to Ned Bevan, Tooele's weather observer for the National Weather Service. Most of that amount -- 2.22 inches -- fell on Thursday, which Bevan said was one of the few times in his lifetime that his rain gauge filled and spilled over in a 24-hour period.
Gary Bevan, Settlement Canyon Irrigation Company president, said runoff finally began coming into Settlement Canyon reservoir on Sunday. He said as soon as the water level rises about 10 feet, the water will be turned back on.
"It has just been a terrible spring, so we just thought with all this rain that that'll take care of any irrigation and now would be a good time to turn off the water because nobody should get hurt," he said.
Gary said the lack of water this spring is in part due to last year's drought.
"I never remember having to do this [turn water off] in the spring," he said. "Usually the water's up and we're worried about it going over the spillway. But a lot of this is the result of last year's drought because there wasn't as much water running through the reservoir in the winter as normal."
Depending on how fast the water level comes up in the reservoir, Gary said the water will remain shut off until possibly Monday.
swest@tooeletranscript.com
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