WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
QUAIL CREEK DAM FAILURE AND FLOOD
Quail Creek Reservoir, Washington County, Utah
HISTORY
Ever since it's dedication, leakage in the dike at Quail Creek Reservoir was a problem. On December 31, 1988, those problems increased dramatically. Just after midnight, at 12:08 am on January 1, 1989, the Quail Creek Reservoir Dam collapsed and a 200-foot break occured in the 1,820 foot long dike. More than 25,000 acre-feet of water was released into the Virgin River Channel as a 40-foot wall of water. That flood damaged 50 to 60 homes and 100 apartment units, forcing 1,500 people from their residences. Bridges, roads, farms, and other property were damaged and the reservoir was rendered useless for several months. The ensuing flood from the Quail Lake dike failure was one of the worst disasters in southern Utah history, causing more than $12 million in damage, yet, miraculously, no lives were lost.The damaged dike was replaced with a roller compacted concrete dam. Work on that was completed in July 1990 and the reservoir was gradually refilled.
PHOTOS
TBDREFERENCES
News coverage of the Quail Creek Dam DisasterHome video from various stations, January 1, 1989
Flood on the Virgin River, January 1989, in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada
By Darrell D. Carlson and David F. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey
Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4159, 1995
Southern Utah Memories: New Year's Day Tragedy ,
by Loren R. Webb, January 24, 2014