Friday, May 16, 2014 11A Standard-Examiner #"*#' LYNN ARAVE/Standard-Examiner correspondent Willard Bay, as viewed from Willard Peak, was previously known as Arthur V. Watkins Dam. Willard Bay water project was authorized by Congress in 1949 Would you like to go fishing or boating at Northern Utah's Watkins Dam? What? Where's that? Sometimes, popular usage over time can supersede official titles ... We're talking Willard Bay here, but its original name was Arthur V. Watkins Dam or Watkins Bay. The nearby town of Willard and/or Willard Peak soon became the water reservoir's official namesake, by popular reference. (In fact, one of the few places you will find the Watkins name used today is on the Bureau of Reclamation's official Lynn Arave Ogden area history bin website.) Willard Bay, 11 miles northwest of Ogden and adjacent to the Great Salt Lake, is often taken for granted. But this artificial treasure has a history worth examining. However, it is surprising how little of its history is readily available. Thanks to some additional information supplied by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, here's the scoop on "Willard Bay"... This water project was authorized by an act of Congress on August 29,1949. It was U.S. Sen. Arthur V. Watkins, R-Utah, who worked to create funding for this project. It became a 14.5-mile- long, rough rectangle- shaped dike structure that impounds surplus fresh water from reaching the Great Salt Lake. About 17 million cubic yards of material were used to create the dam. The earthen dike material used in the project is highly compressible. So See ARAVE I Page 14A