How the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company Is Modernizing Its 140‑Year-Old System
A newly lined canal in the DWCCC’s system.
T
he Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company (DWCCC) is a wholesale and retail water supplier for several thousand acres of agricultural, residential, and commercial land in northern Utah. With a nearly 140-year-old system in a rapidly urbanizing area, the DWCCC is putting significant money and effort into lining, enclosing, and updating its delivery system and adapting to the conversion of agricultural lands to urbanization. In this interview, DWCCC General Manager Rick Smith tells Irrigation Leader about the company’s infrastructure work and plans for the future. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the history of the DWCCC.
12 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020
Irrigation Leader: What is the breakdown between agricultural and urban customers? Rick Smith: We’ve been trying to analyze that. It’s probably getting close to 50/50 now, considering how much this area has grown. Over the last 30 years, the landscape has really changed; what used to be mostly farms now includes a lot of homes, schools, parks, churches, and businesses. Irrigation Leader: How many urban customers do you deliver water to? irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DWCCC.
Rick Smith: I’m the general manager of the DWCCC. I have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Brigham Young University. I am a professional engineer licensed in Utah. I worked for a consulting firm called J‑U‑B Engineers for more than 17 years. The DWCCC was one of our clients, so I was involved with the company from the outside as an engineering consultant. I’ve been the general manager now for over 4 years.
Rick Smith: The DWCCC was created in 1884, before Utah was a state. It was an extension of a company that served the agricultural land in Davis and Weber Counties. It is a private, mutual irrigation company with shareholders. Today, we have just over 17 miles of canal in our system. We serve roughly 40,000 irrigated acres. Over the last 30 years, we’ve been shifting away from exclusively providing water for flood irrigation and beginning to provide secondary water for residential and commercial properties, such as lawns and gardens. This is known as a dual system in some areas. Today, we have a total of 14 employees, including our reservoir tender and me.
