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                                                             Under Siege Continued

However, a small earthquake in 1992 re-opened the ruptures.  The District refused to repair the cracks in the limestone, putting the Pah Tempe Hot Springs out of business until 1995 when the flow was inadvertently restored when the WCWCD placed 300 cubic yards of concrete on the easterly crossing in order to protect the pipeline from River erosion.  Pah Tempe was out of business for 4 years.

Since then the pipeline has eroded due to the corrosive effects of the hot springs water and has ruptured in July of 2000, May of 2001 and again in December 2001.  The December break was allowed to erode tons of soil and debris into the Virgin River for 34 days before being patched.

 
The WCWCD has elected to revert back to something resembling the originally approved plan, however, the west overhead crossing point has been moved to a point parallel & adjacent to the Historic Bridge.  To quote Scott McNeil of McNeil Engineering & Land Surveying, Inc., “as for the pipes affect on the Historic Bridge,...aesthetically it would seem to be devastating to the current location of the bridge & any plans to restore it.”
 
This is in addition to the fact that the pipe will come up, to go overhead, at exactly the point where a rock fall chute releases large boulders which will eventually rupture the pipe.  All warnings regarding this fact have again been ignored.  The use of the originally approved location, which is safer & more aesthetic and will also end up costing less in the long run,  has not been considered.
 
The view corridor will also be destroyed by the bridge at the other easterly crossing point, but this could be reduced somewhat by designing a historic looking bridge with a pedestrian walkway, but this has not been considered either.
 
Pah Tempe has also had to accept the closure of the retreat center during construction, disruption of electric & water to the rental units, and on occasion, complete blockage of the entrance to the hot springs parking lot(preventing access to the Springs & resulting loss of revenue).
 
Your help is urgently needed in order to preserve this beautiful, precious, and priceless resource, the only natural Hot Springs in Southern Utah!