Table of Contents
Water superintendents Bill Baker and Glen Gubler have overseen the development
of numerous springs such as this one in Slide Canyon at the base of Pine
Valley Mountain. The springs still supply a significant
The Mill Creek water was critical in keeping St. George ahead of its needs.
But from that time to the present, there has been no time for the water
department to sit back and admire its accomplishments. Year-to-year Bill
Baker and his crew continued to develop new springs and overhaul existing
springs beneath Pine Valley Mountain. By the late 1940s, numerous springs
were feeding the Cottonwood pipeline from various canyons along the base
of the mountain. East Fork, Cottonwood, Sullivan, and West Fork Canyons
were the sites of the original springs. On the Blake an Gubler side to the
west, Baker and Quaking Aspen, Slide Canyon, and Carter Springs. Each of
these projects was a major undertaking, requiring crews to camp onsite for
days at a time. In many cases, pack animals had to be used to transport
cement and other supplies to the spring sites. Baker did most of the engineering
on the drawing boards of his own mind. In the end, as always, the city was
the recipient of a job well done, at a minimal cost. In 1966, Glen Gubler
joined Bill Baker's crew and became a serious student of the city's water
system. He would eventually replace Baker as a water superintendent, but
not before paying his dues on the crew, building and maintaining springs,
installing pipeline, figuring out new and better ways to get more water
to the city.
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Articles taken from Making the Desert Bloom
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2012 City of St. George |
