Utah
Utah board approves ‘historic’ $190M in secondary water meter grants. Here’s why that matters
Ormond Development crews set up secondary water meters in a subdivision in Woods Cross for the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District on Nov. 7, 2019. The Board of Water Assets authorized about $190 million price of grant cash to assist meter secondary water throughout the state. (Steve Griffin, Deseret Information)
Estimated learn time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Board of Water Assets on Thursday authorized $190 million in grants towards dozens of initiatives that may add about 114,000 meters, serving to cowl greater than half of the remaining unmetered secondary water connections within the state within the coming years.
The listing of initiatives was lengthy sufficient that the board heard and voted on all of them throughout three segments all through the day, together with different state water-related gadgets additionally introduced up earlier than the board.
“That is actually a historic day,” mentioned Candice Hasenyager, the director of the Utah Division of Water Assets, between periods of the assembly.
Secondary water is used particularly for irrigation methods, lawns, gardens, parks, landscapes or another open areas. There are about 260,000 secondary, outside water connections statewide; nevertheless, about 85% had been unmetered getting into the yr. Utah leaders have warned in regards to the want for water metering for years, noting that the shortage of metering makes it troublesome to actually understand how a lot water is getting used for secondary functions.
These meters are essential as a result of they will higher mission how lengthy into the irrigation season a sure water person can go earlier than working out of water. Hasenyager provides those that have water meters even have been capable of scale back water consumption by 20% to 30%.
“Once we add that up throughout the state, that complete (supplies) actually vital numbers,” she mentioned.
It is why the Utah Legislature authorized a plan earlier this yr to put aside $250 million in federal American Rescue Plan cash for secondary water metering within the state. The funds should be utilized by the top of 2026. The Legislature additionally handed a invoice requiring secondary water suppliers to have a meter on any secondary water connections by the beginning of 2030.
About 70 water conservancy districts and irrigation firms to municipalities and different water customers utilized for grants in the course of the preliminary spherical of funding, mentioned Marisa Egbert, a funding part supervisor with the Division of Water Assets.
One applicant, the Nation Basic Estates house owner affiliation in Bluffdale, withdrew its utility for $35,000 in grants for 42 of its secondary water connections simply earlier than it was up for approval Thursday afternoon, citing some questions it wanted to type out. It was the smallest of the proposed initiatives.
The 114,000 meters requested account for about 57% of the remaining unmetered secondary water connections, in accordance with Hasenyager. The authorized initiatives in the end cowl a bit greater than three-fourths of the allotted cash and have an estimated financial savings of about 54,000 acre-feet yearly as soon as all of the meters are put in within the subsequent few years, which equates to roughly 17.6 billion gallons of water — or the scale of a decent-sized reservoir.
“So consider East Canyon, consider Sand Hole,” Hasenyager mentioned. “This can be a large quantity and it’ll make a distinction (in) how we use water sooner or later.”
All grants can cowl as much as 70% of all the price of a mission, whereas an applicant should pitch in at the least a number of the remaining prices. A number of of the candidates on this spherical of funding additionally sought loans at 1% curiosity from the Utah Board of Water Assets.
Lehi, for instance, will obtain $10 million in grant funds, which is able to cowl most of its almost $14.3 million mission to put in 5,700 meters throughout its metropolis. It additionally obtained a low-interest mortgage to cowl greater than $3.6 million of the remaining price of the mission, which is estimated to cut back water consumption by 1,368 acre-feet yearly within the coming years.
The total listing of initiatives could be discovered right here.
As for logistics, Ronald Mortensen, representing the South Davis Water District, requested the board Thursday what might occur if a district runs into provide chain points, labor shortages or different financial components that would delay a mission from being accomplished by the top of 2026. After the primary assembly concluded, he additionally famous that taxpayers might must pony up the cash wanted to cowl the 30% that grants do not cowl, which could be burdensome for some residents.
Utah water officers mentioned mortgage funds can be made obtainable if candidates miss the 2026 deadline as a result of all grant cash will disappear then. Additionally they suggested that cities and water districts ought to ask round completely different metering producers as a result of some might have meters in inventory whereas others do not, to keep away from attainable setbacks brought on by materials shortages.
In the meantime, Egbert says all of the water saved by means of water metering can go towards the culinary provide as an alternative, which may help provide the water wanted for future growth as Utah continues to develop, as a result of much less water is used inside houses than exterior of them. The funds additionally assist state water officers take into consideration different water-saving initiatives past secondary metering.
There are nonetheless tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} left for this system, which she hopes can be utilized for the 43% of secondary sources not included in Thursday’s package deal. These locations may have till 2030 to adjust to Utah’s new regulation.