Springville City installed a 120 KW hydro generator on the Spring Creek culinary water supply in 1904 and formed their Municipal Power Company immediately thereafter. By 1938, the Spring Creek water source could not adequately supply the water requirements of the City, so water rights to springs in Bartholomew Canyon were purchased which could provide up to 10 cfs on a year-round basis. Getting the water from the Bartholomew Canyon Springs to the City required construction of an 18-inch pipeline, so the City’s choice was to either build a pipeline down the canyon 11 miles or bore a 7,980 foot tunnel through the mountain to Spring Creek, thus reducing the pipeline to 6.5 miles.

The City Council voted to construct the tunnel, and a Federal Works Agency construction grant application was submitted in January of 1942 for a total amount of $659,061.84. This application was approved, and construction on the tunnel began during the summer of 1942. Progress on the tunnel was slow due to encountering almost solid rock and the abundance of water; these eventually forced abandonment of the tunnel project.

The project was redesigned, and the longer “down the canyon” route was used to convey the Bartholomew Canyon Springs water to the City. This project included a water storage tank at the spring source, an 18-inch steel pipeline and a 500 KW hydro generator. The system was finished in 1948. Both of the hydro plants, Spring Creek and Bartholomew, are still in use; however, each was upgraded in 1986-1987 to 500 KW and 1500 KW respectively. They have operated continuously since.

The decision to install hydro facilities on the culinary water system has proven to be a good investment even though the early decision to construct a pipeline tunnel was not.