Jensen Unit

Located in Uintah County in northeastern Utah, the Jensen Unit was the second unit of the Central Utah Project to be completed following the Vernal Unit. The Jensen Unit is part of the Initial Phase of the Central Utah Project, and was authorized by the 1956 Colorado River Storage Project Act (70 Stat. 105).

The Jensen Unit develops about 22,600 acre-feet of water annually including: 18,000 acre-feet for municipal and industrial (M&I) uses and 4,600 acre-feet for irrigation. Red Fleet Dam and Reservoir, located on Big Brush Creek about 10 miles northeast of Vernal, Utah, is the main storage feature of the unit. The dam is 144 feet high and impounds 26,000 acre-feet of water (24,000 acre-feet of active storage). At full pool the reservoir's surface area is 521 acres. Construction of the dam began in 1977 and was completed in 1980. Irrigation water from the reservoir serves about 4,080 acres of agricultural lands within the unit boundaries that produce alfalfa, barley, corn silage, and irrigated pasture.

Other Jensen Unit facilities are the Tyzack Pumping Plant and Tyzack Aqueduct. Water is pumped from Red Fleet Reservoir by Tyzack Pumping Plant and then conveyed by Tyzack Aqueduct to the Ashley Valley Water Treatment Plant. A continuation of the Tyzack Aqueduct distributes the treated drinking water from the plant to the city of Vernal and Jensen Water Districts.

Upon completion of construction, Jensen Unit facilities were transferred to the Uintah Water Conservancy District (UWCD)on October 1, 1988. Total estimated unit construction costs were $33,263,000. Under the supervision of the Bureau of Reclamation, the UWCD is responsible for routine, daily operations and maintenance of the unit, and for repayment of the reimbursable portions of the construction costs (about $30.5 million).

Recreation facilities at Red Fleet Reservoir consist of boat launching facilities, campground and picnic areas all administered by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation as part of Red Fleet State Park.

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