by Tim Gillie
STAFF WRITER
The State Engineer closed Tooele Valley to all new applications for water rights in 1996. Since then, the only way to get a new water right has been to buy an existing right. Now the State Engineer is proposing limiting where you can move the point of diversion of a water right -- the place where the water is removed from its natural flow, such as a well.
The new proposal would restrict the eastward movement of points of diversion for water rights in the Tooele Valley -- a move designed to make sure water rights and the actual water they back up correspond.
Current studies show that if every water user in the valley were to use the full amount of their permitted annual water rights, or appropriated water, that amount would exceed the amount of water that is available underground or the annual recharge.
"The policy changes have been proposed because there currently is more appropriated water than annual recharge in the eastern portions of the Tooele Valley," said Ross Hansen, regional engineer with the Division of Water Rights.
The Division of Water Rights based the new proposal in part on a 1999 study of the groundwater aquifer in Tooele Valley completed by the United States Geological Survey. From the study,three main water flow zones were developed by the Division of Water Rights staff.
The eastern zone starts at the Salt Lake/Tooele county line near Black Rock with a western boundary that starts north of Middle Canyon and loops west by northwest to the Great Salt Lake near Stansbury Park. The central zone starts where the eastern zone ends and runs just west of Grantsville before turning eastward as it heads out to the lake. The western zone includes Grantsville and runs west to the crest of the Stansbury Mountains.
The concerns of the State Engineer, who is also the director of the Division of Water Rights, center on recharge rates. According to the USGS, the annual recharge rate for the eastern zone is 16,910 acre feet of water, while the permitted water rights in the zone add up to an annual use of 22,004 acre feet -- leaving a deficit of 5,094 acre feet per year if all permitted rights are fully utilized. The recharge rate for the central zone is 43,160 acre feet per year, and the permitted water rights in the central zone add up to 47,900 acre feet per year -- an annual deficit of 4741 acre feet per year. The western zone has an annual recharge rate of 15,226 acre feet per year, and the permitted water rights in the zone add up to 7,622 acre feet per year -- leaving a surplus of 7,604 acre feet per year. Altogether the permitted water use in the Tooele Valley exceeds the annual recharge rate by 3 percent or 2,230 acre feet per year.
The western side of the valley has more water available because its lower population exerts less of a drain on the aquifer.
"The majority of growth has taken place in the eastern part of the county and water use has naturally moved in that direction," said Tooele County Engineer Vern Loveless, who spent 10 years as a private engineer advising people in Tooele Valley on the water rights issue.
To minimize the possible effects of too much water being taken from the central and eastern zones, the Division of Water Rights is proposing two policies to discourage the eastward movement of points of diversion.
The first proposed policy would allow a point of diversion to be moved along its flow path and as far west as the edge of the Tooele Valley but no more than four miles to the east. The second proposed policy would not allow any point of diversion to be moved into the eastern zone.
The proposal has garnered mixed reactions thus far.
"It is an excellent idea," said Lynn Taylor, watermaster for the Grantsville Irrigation Company. "It is about time the state realizes that all the water underground doesn't all flow to the same place."
Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy said the proposed changes will have a considerable effect on Tooele City. The city requires builders and developers to bring water rights with them when they start a project. Under current policies, many builders obtain those water rights in the Grantsville area and then move them to Tooele. The new policy, as proposed, would not allow that, Dunlavy said.
"The city's water supply itself would not be affected by the policy change, the city has no plans to build new wells that would require the moving of water rights into the eastern zone," Dunlavy said.
"I welcome a written policy," said Loveless. "Once approved, we will have in writing the boundaries and the rules that will be considered when a change application is submitted, all those things are not currently in writing."
Ethel Walters, whose family owns and operates an 800-acre ranch in Erda, has a proposed change application before the Division of Water Rights that will be affected by the new policy. The Tooele Valley Airport, owned by Salt Lake City, bought 9 acres of the Walters ranch by exercising eminent domain, but did not want any of the associated water rights. Walters found a buyer for the water rights, but that buyer wants to move the point of diversion to the east, which would not be permitted under the new policies.
"First they take my land and now they say I can't sell the water," Walters said.
Some say the proposed policy change could have far-reaching ramifications on development in the valley.
"It will make it harder to find water rights in the valley and slow growth in Tooele County," said Marta Johnson, branch manager with Security Title Insurance in Tooele. "The Division of Water Rights has taken a lot of water away from landowners, and there is a lot of water not being used. They should wait for the new USGS study that will be completed soon before they make a decision."
When the decision is reached, the new policy will apply to all change applications dated after April 16. But the Division of Water Rights is also considering applying the new policies to change applications received before April 16, according to Ross Hansen, regional engineer. The Division of Water Rights will be taking public comment on the proposals through May 30. Written comments should be sent to Utah Division of Water Rights, PO Box 146300, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6300.
tgillie@tooeletranscript.com