The Highway That Runs Too Close to the Water
State Route 189 is one of the most traveled corridors in the Wasatch Back — the primary road connecting Provo and Utah Valley to Heber City, Midway, and the mountain communities beyond. It is also a road that runs along the eastern edge of Deer Creek Reservoir for a significant stretch, separated from the water by guardrails that have been tested more than once and found wanting.
When a semi hauling propane lost control on that stretch and punched through the barrier into the reservoir, it set off a chain reaction that closed the highway, triggered a hazmat response, and placed a driver inside a submerged cab at the bottom of a drinking water reservoir. The tanker carried just under 12,000 gallons of propane. The breach of the tank on impact released the majority of that gas into the atmosphere — a pressure release visible and detectable from a significant distance. First responders had to treat the scene as a hazardous materials incident before they could treat it as a rescue.
The highway closed in both directions. Traffic backed up across the canyon. And in the water, the cab of the truck sat on the reservoir floor with its driver inside, while dive teams worked to locate and recover him. The operation extended through the night and into the following day. When the rig was finally lifted out on Tuesday, Richard Bowman, 62, was found deceased in the cab where he had been trapped since the moment of impact.
What remained in the water after the truck was removed is the less-told part of this story. One hundred and thirty gallons of diesel fuel had leaked from the vehicle’s tanks during the hours it sat submerged. Diesel is not a compound that simply disperses harmlessly in reservoir water. It contains hydrocarbons that can persist in aquatic environments, affect water quality, and move downstream through the treatment systems that process Deer Creek’s water for human consumption. The spill was addressed — treated, monitored, reported to relevant agencies — but the incident underscored how easily a single accident on a highway corridor can translate into a contamination event in a critical water supply.
The proximity of SR-189 to Deer Creek Reservoir is not a design flaw; it is a geographic reality that highway engineers worked around the best they could. But that proximity creates a recurring vulnerability. The guardrails are not impenetrable. Heavy vehicles lose control on mountain highways. And when they do on this particular stretch, they end up in the water.
Fathom Restoration’s mission exists at exactly this intersection — between the accidents that put vehicles in Utah lakes and the long-term environmental cost of leaving that contamination in place. We recover submerged trucks, cars, and vessels from Utah waterways. We are asking for your support so that the next time something goes into Deer Creek Reservoir, we are already positioned to help bring it back out. Join us at fathomrestoration.org.
Fathom Restoration is a Utah nonprofit dedicated to recovering submerged vehicles, vessels, and debris from Utah’s lakes and waterways. Donate, volunteer, or report a submerged vehicle at fathomrestoration.org.
