Irrigation development of lands served by the Scofield project began in 1883. Ditch companies were organized, and the water was diverted from the natural flow of the Price River. From time to time, canal systems were combined and extended until it was found that the natural flow of the river was inadequate to supply irrigation demands fully. The
Mammoth Reservoir Company was incorporated and made filings on the floodwaters of the
Price River in 1896. In 1900, a group of farmers from
Sanpete County secured the company's rights to store water and convey it by transmountain diversion to their lands. In 1902, the Sanpete group had financial difficulties, and the project passed into the hands of the Irrigated Lands Co. The latter company abandoned the idea of watering Sanpete County lands and made plans to irrigate near
Price, Utah. The company, in cooperation with the
State of
Utah, proceeded with the construction of Mammoth Dam. After going through considerable financial difficulty, the Irrigated Lands Co. was reorganized in 1911 to form the Price River Irrigation Co., which developed the project as rapidly as financial conditions and demand for water would permit. The dam failed on June 25, 1917, when it was only partly completed, releasing of water and causing flood damage estimated at $1 million to railroad and mining property. The
Price River Water Conservation District, a municipal corporation, was organized in 1921 to develop storage facilities in the
Price River watershed to replace the destroyed Mammoth Dam. Under the district's direction, Scofield Dam was constructed during 1925–1926. The reservoir formed behind the dam had a capacity of . In May 1928, with the reservoir practically filled for the first time, the dam partially failed. Emergency repairs, together with the rapid evacuation of storage water through the outlet tunnel, were effective in preventing complete failure and a devastating flood. Numerous attempts at placing the dam in a safe operating condition were unsuccessful. In view of the apparent weakness of the dam, storage in Scofield Reservoir was strictly limited to a maximum of . The
Bureau of Reclamation investigated the development of the Scofield project in accordance with a cooperative contract between the United States and the
State of
Utah. The study resulted in the adoption of the plan to replace the unsafe Scofield Dam with a completely new and larger structure to be erected about downstream from the existing dam. The project was authorized by the president on June 24, 1943, under the terms of the Water Conservation and Utilization Act of August 11, 1939 (53 Stat. 1418), as amended. Under the
Utah Water Conservancy Act of 1941, the
Carbon Water Conservancy District was organized in 1943 for the purpose of negotiating a contract with the United States for the construction of the new dam. Contract negotiations between this district, the Price River Water Conservation District, and the United States were completed in 1943. Construction of the new storage works by the
W.W. Clyde Company of
Springville, Utah, was undertaken during
World War II to prevent possible flood damage to the main line of the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, the
State highway, the telephone and telegraph lines, and the coal mines, all of which were important to the war effort. The new dam was completed June 15, 1946. ==Current dam==