Expert says dam plan is flooded with problems
Water is money and the Utah Rivers Council has some feasible alternatives – other than building dams and water diversions – to conserving Utah’s water.
Merritt Frey, executive director of the council, addressed this topic to about 15 Utah State University students during their Water Law and Policy in the United States class on Thursday.
“In a large part, new demands are focusing on municipal water,” Frey said. “This is one reason why we focus on water conservation.”
Since Utah’s beginnings, Utahns have depended on the approximately 5,000 dams throughout the state as their main water resources.
“This is the legacy of water development in Utah now,” Frey said. “Is this the way we’re going to continue our water issues?”
Now, however, several Utah government officials and water conservancy districts are pushing to dam or divert a total of about 220,000 acre-feet of water from the Bear River just below Cutler Dam in Box Elder County.
This effort is mostly attributed to the Bear River Development Act passed by the federal government in 1992.
Although the project isn’t needed until 2050, the negative effects of this project will outweigh the positive, Frey said.
The project could cost $680 million or $3,000 per acre-foot.
“That’s really expensive water,” Frey said. “I believe this is too expensive for agricultural water.”
Another issue is water supply. According to recent studies by the Utah Division of Water Resources, Utah will still have a surplus of water in 2050.
“Is there a better way than a great, big, huge construction plan that we’re used to in the West?” Frey said.
The Utah Rivers Council has devised several alternatives to the project, one of which is to increase water conservation efforts.
“Education is great, but there’s a lot of other stuff we could be doing,” Frey said.
Many Utahns only see a percentage of the cost of water in their water bills because of property tax subsidies. Frey hopes that by showing people the true cost of water, it will give them an option of how much water they’re going to use and are willing to pay for.
Another option is dry-year leases, which, essentially, is when a city purchases options from a farmer’s water during dry years. This allows farmers to make money and for cities to get water when they need it.”
“The attractive thing with this approach is it’s the closest to a win/win situation that you’ll get with Western water,” Frey said.
Water reuse and recycling is another option in which nonpotable reclaimed water can be used for landscape irrigation.
“There’s no one solution, we’re talking about putting together a multifaceted approach,” Frey said. “It’s a question of when we make this change, not if.”
The Utah Rivers Council has been organized for 10 years and Frey is well known through the water community in Utah, especially to the environmentalist interests, instructor Jimmie Joe Honaker said.
“She has water in her blood,” Honaker said. “She is a unique individual involved in her passion.”
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu