Water News Roundup – March 8, 2010

Deseret News:

State seeks best uses of Utah Lake – State officials are looking for the best uses for Utah Lake — even if it means simply leaving it alone.

Federal funding to boost conservation efforts – Maintenance of fish hatcheries, waterfowl management and curbing disease in wildlife populations will receive a funding boost due to an allocation of nearly $10 million to Utah from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Salt Lake Tribune:  My water bill pays for what? – The stewards of several Salt Lake County water systems are flowing your money into more than just water and pipes to quench your thirst, wash your clothes and sprinkle your lawn.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial:  Canal safety – A bill to require state inspections of irrigation canals is dead in the water. But another that would keep the public from learning about dangerous canals is cruising toward passage. It seems as if the Utah Legislature is more interested in coddling canal companies than protecting the people whose lives would be endangered by a canal break.

The Spectrum: Water conference underlines scarcity – In the Southwestern United States, water and its scarcity is a big deal. Just ask any of the more than 1,600 people at the Dixie Center this week attending the Rural Water Association of Utah’s annual conference.

Technorati Tags: canal legislation,canal regulation,canal safety,federal funding,RWUA,Utah Lake

Water News Roundup – March 1, 2010

My apologies for Thursday’s news roundup – I was attending a funeral and couldn’t quite make it back to the desktop.  Lots to catch up on because of that, as you can see…

Deseret News:

Utah has too little snow in the North and too much in the South – One of Utah’s most popular winter attractions — sleigh rides at the Hardware Ranch in Cache County — is shutting down early because there just hasn’t been enough winter. It illustrates how bad our snowpack is and the tough decisions water managers will have to make later this year.

Rainwater could legally be yours –  The rain drops collecting in the bucket on your back porch may soon be legally yours under a measure endorsed Thursday by a legislative committee.

SUU students’ project aims to help aquifer – A group of Southern Utah University students are working to maintain water levels in the Cedar Valley aquifer by accelerating the rate at which water percolates into the city’s underground aquifer.

Logan fined $10,000 for water violation – he city of Logan has been fined $10,000 after an employee dumped thousands of gallons of polluted water into a ditch.  U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells issued the fine after the city pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating the Clean Water Act.

Salt Lake Tribune:

What about the sports complex? – If the federal government declares a massive flood zone across the street, what does that mean for Salt Lake City’s planned 160-acre sports complex, which also abuts the Jordan River, but has no levee?

Environmental groups sue over lack of notice – The Friends of Great Salt Lake say they weren’t given enough notice to object to the Utah Lake Master Plan.

Canal safety bill evaporates – A bill that would require state water officials to inspect canals for safety risks and canal companies to make plans for repairs and improvements to reduce those risks faded away during a legislative committee meeting Wednesday.

Wet storm welcome but we need more – With most big storms missing the Wasatch Front this winter, water officials had to be happy about the storm that hit Wednesday night and dropped a heavy, wet snow into Thursday morning.

New York Times – Science: Rulings restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling EPA – Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

Technorati Tags: aquifer,canal legislation,canal regulation,EPA,FFSL,FOGSL,Jordan River sports complex,Logan City,snowpack,SUU,Utah Lake Master Plan,water forecast,Water Quality

Water News Roundup – February 24, 2010

Deseret News:

Canal safety bill passes House – Utah canals that pose potential safety hazards— like one in Logan that failed last summer, killing a mother and two children — would be subject to new safety requirements under a proposal that passed the House on Tuesday.

State division allows competing bids for use of Utah Lake land – Utah Crossing Inc. may not be alone in applying for use of land it wants to utilize to build a bridge across Utah Lake.

Salt Lake Tribune: House passes canal safety bill – The state would encourage canal companies to create management plans for risky stretches of canals but shield those plans from public scrutiny under a bill that passed the Utah House on Tuesday.

2010 Legislature: Representative McIff’s substituted stream access bill has passed the House.  The bill now moves to the Senate.

Technorati Tags: canal legislation,canal regulation,FFSL,stream access,Utah Lake,Utah Lake bridge

Water News Roundup – February 23, 2010

Ugh… back from a balmy 70 degree Napa to 24 degree Salt Lake…. BRRRRR!

Deseret News:

National plan aims to boost water levels in the West – A new Department of Interior initiative announced Monday aims to boost the water supply in the thirsty West through an infusion of dollars and strategies aimed at patching infrastructure and boosting conservation efforts.

N. Utah’s snowpack running below level – Water sources in Utah this year aren’t producing as much as in past years, but it has nothing to do with global warming, a Natural Resources Conservation Service researcher said.

Provo Daily Herald: House hears bills on stream access – One bill that tried to compromise stream bed access sank straight to the bottom on Monday, while another is treading water.

2010 Legislature: Via Jeffry Gittins, here are a couple of recent developments with water-related legislation.

Rainwater harvesting bill – SB32 was amended for the house with the following changes:

Harvested water can be stored and used on a “parcel,” which is now a defined term (the bill previously used the word “property”).

There is a limit of one underground storage container per parcel.

There is a limit of two covered storage containers per parcel.

The maximum size of covered storage containers was increased to 100 gallons (previously, it was 55 gallons).

Also, there is a new ‘Land Use Authority Notification of Canal Development’ Bill (HB298) that affects development within 100 feet of the centerline of canals.  It will require municipalities and counties to notify water agencies of proposed development.

Water News Roundup – Feb. 22, 2010 – Napa Edition

Coming to you from sunny Napa Valley…

Salt Lake Tribune:  Canal ‘secrets’ bill advances – Some Utah lawmakers still want to keep secret from the public any information about where canals might be weak enough to threaten human life or damage highways, utilities or certain buildings.

Deseret News: Utah’s water storage low, federal researcher says – Water sources in Utah this year aren’t producing as much as in past years, but it has nothing to do with global warming, a Natural Resources Conservation Service researcher said.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Officials work to clear up stormwater guidelines – City officials will add enforcement provisions to existing storm water guidelines in order to clear up potentially ambiguous issues affecting local developments. The city council recently voted 5-0 to direct staff to prepare a draft of new city guidelines with stiffer penalties for violations.

Water News Roundup – January 28, 2010

KSL: Lawmakers discuss options to make Utah canals safer – Utah has between 6,000 and 7,000 miles of canals, controlled by roughly 1,200 canal companies. On Wednesday, state lawmakers began wrestling with the issue of how to make those canals safer.

Salt Lake Tribune:

Bill would keep Utah canals’ hazards a secret – Last summer’s deadly Logan canal collapse is spurring efforts to identify potential hazards along Utah’s waterways, but a House bill would keep those findings secret from the public and even the courts.

Lawmakers want to legalize backyard rainwater use – The Utah Senate advanced a bill legalizing the common but illegal practice of collecting gardening or lawn water in a 55-gallon drum, and opposition from water-rights purists in the House appeared to soften with proposed amendments requiring water users to register with the state.

Deseret News: Rainwater bill resurfaces – A bill that failed to pass in the final hours of the 2009 Legislature allowing Utahns to collect rainwater on their own property surfaced again Wednesday.