Water News Roundup – August 23, 2010

Ogden Standard Examiner:

Morgan County says municipalities should handle water infrastructure – While county officials wait for the end of a water moratorium and the overdue publication of a water study, they are saying that municipalities should shoulder future responsibility for water infrastructure.

Farmington authorizes new city well – A project to drill for a new city well will move ahead, despite some second thoughts among city officials after hearing from local residents.

Salt Lake Tribune  – Editorial: Teachable moment – Eternal optimists were flummoxed by the Red Butte Creek oil spill. What good can possibly come from 33,600 gallons of crude pouring from a ruptured Chevron pipeline into the creek?

Las Vegas Sun: State reconsidering request to pump water from upstate – State Engineer Jason King has set new deadlines for handling the applications filed in 1989 to pump billions of gallons of water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas.

St. George Spectrum (requires sub.): Vegas water pipeline foes seek NV court hearing – Opponents of a proposed multibillion-dollar water pipeline from northeastern Nevada to Las Vegas are mounting a procedural challenge to a Nevada Supreme Court order sending the case to a state official for review.

AWRA and News Roundup – May 11, 2010

Attending the AWRA – Utah Section Conference today.  Plenty of talks and more information than one could possibly digest in one day, as usual.  Notable talks so far include water quality of the GSL and Jordan River, updates on water infrastructure funding and an overview of recently adopted water legislation (water banking, aquifer storage and recovery, etc.).  Hilarious vignettes from a surprisingly frank Representative Patrick Painter.  My faves so far: Jay Franson and Representative Painter.  This year the venue is the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium tower overlooking the Salt Lake Valley.  Quite a view of the ongoing rainstorm… hey, at least it’s not snowing.

Later:  Oooo!  I got to meet Michael the Aquadoc Campana from Waterwired!  (As a noob water nerd, I must geek out about this.)  He provides a great summary of the talks on his blog.  I’m glad that he was able to speak and that he enjoyed the rest of the presentations.

“Some of you are no doubt thinking, “Oh, no! WaterWired got stuck at Delta’s SLC hub waiting for a connection!” That has happened to me more than once, but not this time. My 28 hours in SLC were a WaterWonk’s delight…”

Ogden Standard Examiner: Farmington water rates could go up 40% – Water rates will rise by at least 40 percent in the coming year as part of a new rate structure being finalized by city officials in conjunction with Lagoon.  In a recent council work session, Mayor Scott Harbertson set 40 percent as the baseline for an anticipated water rate hike for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Catastrophic Plan – The Salt Lake City Council will soon vote to either approve the proposed Northwest Quadrant Master Plan or uphold current zoning that preserves heritage farms and natural wetlands around the Great Salt Lake (“Plan sees mini-city west of airport,” Tribune , April 19). If developed as currently proposed, the results will be catastrophic.

Water News Roundup – March 10, 2010

Lots of water news today with much of the press highlighting the Jordan River Basin Plan.  Here’s a recap of the Jordan River coverage, followed by other miscellaneous items.

Deseret News:  Jordan River Basin Plan out for comment – A comprehensive review of the Salt Lake Valley’s water resources identifies the need to make more efficient use of wastewater and to develop additional supplies.  Dennis Strong comments on this one.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Bear River to slake thirst, one of several steps to meet 2027’s larger population – New water supplies, including the Bear River, will be needed to quench the thirst of fast-growing suburbs around Salt Lake City in the coming decades, according to a state report released Tuesday.

KSL: New water supplies needed for Utah demand – A state report says new water supplies will be needed to quench the thirst of fast-growing suburbs around Salt Lake City in the coming decades.

ABC4 News: New water supplies needed for Utah demand – A state report says new water supplies will be needed to quench the thirst of fast-growing suburbs around Salt Lake City in the coming decades.

In other news…

Deseret News: Plans in place to enclose 100-year old Provo canal – A $150 million project to enclose all 21 miles of the Provo Reservoir Canal, also known as the Murdock Canal, in north Utah County will begin in October. (I was interested to read that CUWCD will now be receiving “8,000 square feet” of water and “50 cubic square feet” of conveyance capacity in exchange for their funding assistance… whoops!)

Salt Lake Tribune: Big pipeline to replace Provo canal – A canal association plans to enclose an open ditch leaving Provo Canyon with a 21-mile pipeline to Salt Lake County.

Ogden Standard Examiner:

Canal construction and preventive maintenance in Weber Basin – Water users in Weber and Davis counties should not notice a change in their water supplies this week.  But behind the scenes, the way they are getting some of their water is much different from the usual.

Farmington to build bigger reservoir – City leaders are shifting their focus in an effort to upgrade the city’s water system.  With growth on the west side fueling the need for more water capacity, officials had originally budgeted funds to drill a test well in the 2009-10 fiscal year, but those plans have been changed.

The Spectrum: Worrisome water – Whenever there’s heavy rainfall like there was Tuesday, Gail and Lester Black usually do two things: work around the predictable flooding of their ranch and curse the city of Hurricane.

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