This simple, efficient, and unassuming building stands at the 30th Street gateway at Wall Avenue, greeting passersby and daily commuters as they depart the city. The building makes a welcome and needed improvement to the area of the city where the industrialized section joins commercial and residential areas. Attractive landscaping adorns the building's western and southern wings that surround the work yard, effectively protecting the neighboring community from the necessary noise of heavy machinery. In addition, its construction kept city funds within the city by contracting with local businesses - Salerno Bartoldi Architects and R & O Construction Company.

Approaching the building from the north side of town you can see columns made from large concrete water pipes at the entrance to the administrative offices. Principle Architect Bill Salerno explains the use of water pipes for building columns is symbolic of the key role of water management to civilization.

Few people give thought to the role water management has played in the development of civilization. Waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever and cholera were serious epidemiological problems before the development of water treatment facilities in the late nineteenth century. Today we take the safety of our culinary water system for granted. Indeed, the invention of irrigation and viaduct plumbing were what made it possible to build cities.

Utah being the second most arid state in the nation is especially dependent on its water supply. The collection, storage, delivery and usage of water have always been critical to our survival and growth. The history of water usage in Northern Utah reflects the ingenuity, resourcefulness and perseverance of our early settlers. In the arid Utah valleys access to major streams and rivers determined survival. Here in Northern Utah the Ogden and Weber Rivers are the principal sources of surface water. Pioneers diverted water from these natural waterways by digging canals and ditches to irrigate their farms and orchards, and provide water for their families.

The area's first irrigation system was established in 1848 from the stream flowing out of Waterfall Canyon to an area near present day 32nd Street and Harrison Boulevard. Most other farms and settlements diverted water from the Ogden River. As the population grew, a more sophisticated system of canals became necessary. This effort was so critical that every able-bodied member of the community was required to build and maintain the system.

The Weber, Ogden Bench, and Mill Creek Canals provided most of the water service to Ogden City. They not only provided water for domestic and agriculture uses, the canals also operated water wheels to power early industrial operations such as lathes and mills. Other diversions, most notably the Hooper and Layton Canals, provided water to the western parts of Weber County. The settlers of the western areas constructed canals and smaller ditches to provide irrigation and drinking water to farmlands. Water was diverted by a system of dams to deliver amounts proportionate to labor provided for the projects.

After the next twenty-one years of settlement, the arrival of the railroad to Ogden City in March 1869 earmarked the beginning of the end of the pioneering era, and brought in new citizenry of diverse cultural backgrounds. By then there were 12 major diversions from the Ogden River. Nevertheless, the northern communities regularly experienced water shortages each summer, the distribution systems were regularly in need of repair and were perpetually deepened or lengthened to meet new demands. Flooding from high spring run-offs would wash out portions of the conduits. In addition, wooden pipes that carried water to homes and commercial enterprises were prone to leakage.

Two major events that dramatically increased population into northern Utah were the Railroad Boom and World War II. The Echo Dam on the Weber River in 1930 and the Pineview Dam on the Ogden River in 1937 alleviated the increased demand for water following the Railroad Boom. Military installations created during World War II placed further demands on the water supply, and subsequently led to the Weber Basin Project in 1949, which formed the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. Over the following 20 years a comprehensive water management system consisting of dams, reservoirs, groundwater wells and storage facilities were constructed under the project.

Today the Ogden City water system is supplied by six wells in the upper valley, which supplies most of the city's drinking water, a water treatment plant at Pineview and Wheeler Creek, and supplemental water supplied by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. Ogden City Water provides an average usage of 17.4 million gallons of water per day to a population over 77,000. Water demand peaks during the summer to over 34 million gallons per day.

Where the northern pioneers delivered water to their homes with shovels and sweat we have the luxury of simply opening a water faucet. Electric pumps and hydraulic pressure do the work for us. The majority of culinary water is drawn from the ground underlying the upper valley. The six wells are like large straws sucking groundwater from between grains of sand onto the surface through some 269 miles of water mains for delivery to our homes and businesses. These aquifers are recharged every spring by the same mountain run-off water that feeds our streams and rivers. The amount of water available to us depends on the amount of run-off water infiltrating into the aquifer, and the amount withdrawn for usage. Water levels in the wells are seven inches lower than a year ago. If you consider the breadth of land underlying northern Ogden you can appreciate the amount of water involved. According to Marvin Zaugg, Manager of the Ogden Department of Water Utilities that drop in water level reduced the output of the wells from 16 million gallons per day to 12 million gallons per day going into the summer peak season.

Ogden City's population is steadily increasing. Our population has grown from 66,909 in 1990 to 77,226 in 2000, an annual growth rate of just over 2%. Our future growth will be as dependent on water as it was during settlement and water is a nonrenewable resource. It is our single most growth-limiting resource. We will have no more water to support future populations as we have today. We are at the point where conservation of our current water supplies is far more cost effective than trying to develop less accessible sources. In order to meet the needs of future residents, we need to do our part to use our water wisely.

Since over 60% of our summer water usage is outside our homes Mr. Zaugg suggests residents avoid watering lawns between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Landscaping with drought resistant plants will also reduce summertime usage. Running washing machines and dishwashers only for full loads lessens water usage, as will the repair of leaking taps and toilets. The Department of Water Utilities strongly encourages prompt reporting of any water main leaks so they can be repaired as quickly as possible.

City employees who maintain and repair these systems more than deserve their new facility from which to serve the city. The building and its water pipe columns stand as testimony to their vital service and also as another important gesture -- it is a tribute to the toil borne by our forefathers to bring fertility to this arid valley and to that of our civil servants who continue their work. While there is a great deal of architectural expertise on design of work areas for the comfort and productivity of white-collar professionals, these aesthetic considerations are often strikingly absent from work areas designed for manual production. In my trade as an industrial hygiene, safety and environmental management professional I have seen first hand the dramatic effect workplace environment can have on employee morale.

The work these civil servants perform for us is unglamorous, unnoticed by most of us, and carries its share of risks: vehicle accidents, occasional extremes of outdoor weather, exposure to water treatment chemicals, bacteria, parasites, and hazards associated with entering confined spaces. Without their services the streets wouldn't be passable after winter storms, nor could we take the delivery or safety of our drinking water for granted.

Likewise construction workers who built the facility are in one of the most hazardous occupations. Construction workers suffer more fatal injuries than do those of any other industry. So it was fitting that during the cornerstone ceremony for the Public Works Building a prayer was given which included a special blessing for the safety of these workers.The Chaplain of the Utah Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, commonly referred to as Freemason's, delivered the convocation. They are the largest and oldest fraternity in the world, who view the intricacies and art in construction of the great gothic cathedrals as symbolic of internal processes within each of us during growth and maturity as human beings. They describe themselves as a society whose purpose is to make good men better. During the ceremony they illustrated their system of symbolism which uses common stonemason tools to describe fundamental principles of character: the square for measuring actions against moral principles, the level to view all humans regardless of class or means as equals, and the plumb symbolically measuring rectitude of action.

These may seem like unrealistically lofty traits to ascribe to common laborers. But recent history has shown us the mettle of these citizens. Last September, the nation watched as New York City's service workers -- firemen, policemen, steelworkers, heavy vehicle operators -- displayed great dedication and heroism in service to their fellow citizens. It was in this context of disaster that the invisible minions of that great city became giants in the eyes of an astonished nation. When tragedy hits home, such as the natural disaster we are sure to have someday, we will likewise depend on the public servants of our home communities to get the infrastructure of civilization up and running once again. I for one applaud Ogden City for recognizing their employees worth by constructing this building.

James Bohne - Summer 2002

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