Hurricane Irrigation Canal, State Route 15 Vicinity, Hurricane, Washington County, UT

Significance: When an expanding population created a demand for more farmland, the residents of the narrow Virgin River valley turned to the Hurricane Bench, a broad expanse of fertile land requiring only water to transform it into productive farmland. Proposals to bring water to the benchland appeared as early as 1874, but it was not until 1893 that construction of an irrigation system began. Built completely by hand, the seven-and-one-half mile canal clings to the sheer walls of the canyon of the Virgin River before turning south to follow the Hurricane fault, and then encircles the flat lands of the Hurricane Bench. When completed, the canal brought water to 2,000 acres of dry bench and created the now-successful farming village of Hurricane, Utah.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-8

Survey number: HAER UT-17

Building/structure dates: 1893- 1904 Initial Construction

irrigation canals pioneers agriculture urban growth floods religious groups grain industry hurricane irrigation hurricane irrigation canal state route washington county utah trestles flumes dams limestone gates engineering retaining walls spillways aqueducts gorges keith bailey burtch w beall jack e boucher david l bouse t allan comp eric delony historic american engineering record hurricane canal company isom company james jepson isaac macfarlane john m macfarlane charles madsen toni ristau joseph h smith eurastus snow john steele j t willis photo ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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