The Historic Hurricane Canal

The Hurricane Canal was first conceived as a project many believed could not be built, requiring water from a point seven miles up the Virgin River to pass through flumes, tunnels, deep ravines, steep unstable cliffs, and sections of mountain, while local residents had virtually no money to fund the work. The little towns upriver were suffering flash floods from the Virgin River that destroyed half their farmland, and more cultivated land was needed to support growing families. In the fall of 1893, James Jepson of Virgin and John Steele of Toquierville envisioned and promoted bringing water to the Hurricane Bench, using a simple carpenter’s spirit level to figure a feasible route and recruiting men from neighboring towns. Isaac McFarlane, the county surveyor, surveyed the route and estimated construction at $53,000. With only picks, shovels, crowbars, and a homemade wheelbarrow, more than 100 hopeful men worked on the canal during the first few winters, but by 1902 only eight to ten remained as delays continued, expensive sections were unfinished, and many had sold their stock and quit. The project revived when Jepson went to Salt Lake City and persuaded the LDS Church to buy $5,000 worth of canal stock, allowing powder for blasting tunnels and lumber for flumes to be purchased. On August 6, 1904, water finally flowed onto the Hurricane Bench, bringing life to 2,000 acres of fertile land, enabling the valley to be settled, and fulfilling a vision that changed the lives and hopes of thousands of people in Utah’s Dixie.

Hurricane, Utah · United States