My May 23 blog post was all about issues with water in dealing with new growth.  The tone of that posting was echoed by a story in the Trib last week

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2022/07/04/building-booms-wasatch-back/

Trib writers Leia Larsen and Jordan Miller highlight the issues in some of the same communities noted in the blog post, with more details and anecdotes.

On the north end of the Ogden Valley, Wolf Creek Resort has taken more extreme measures. The water provider is in the second year of a moratorium on new construction because its wells are on the verge of running dry. Rumors fly of wealthy landowners growing impatient while they wait to break ground.

Wolf Creek attempted to ease the pressure by drilling a deeper well. It started pumping, only to cause a spring Eden Water Works depends on to stop flowing.

“It’s getting drier, the weather’s doing crazier things, and we keep allowing the building,” said Robert Thomas, the general manager at Wolf Creek. “You can only pump so much out of the ground and you’ll have issues. We’re starting to see it. We’re just the first ones.”

They also write about Oakley and Henefer, which have both put in place development moratoriums because of water shortages.

Water managers have placed their own moratoriums on buildings requiring new hookups — Henefer since 2018, and Oakley since last summer — to ensure they have enough water for current needs instead of squeezing that capacity for new developments amid the statewide drought.

“It’s not something we’d like to have,” said Henefer Mayor Kay Richins. “Some people think we’re trying to control the growth by having a moratorium, but that is not the truth.”

What to do?  While not intended to produce definitive answers but rather provide information and engender discussion, this year’s Utah Land Use Conference, organized by the Utah Land Use Institute, will take on this most critical of growth topics. The conference will be held October 25-26 in Sandy (see Conference page on this very website).

The focused Tuesday afternoon opening half day will be all about water. Issues to be covered include new requirements for local water planning, moratoria on development due to water supply shortages, pending water legislation, the future of the Great Salt Lake, and other related topics.  Presenters and panelists will include water managers, water attorneys, municipal attorneys, local land use planners and managers, state water planners and managers, and others directly engaged in this most important of growth issues.

Be sure to join us in October