
Committee to develop a Water Utility Resource Management Plan Moab & Spanish Valley, Utah
January 01, 2023WATER UTILTIY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN (WURMP)
Moab & Spanish Valley
- Official website. City of Moab.
Next Public Meetings
- Monday, May 22nd at 6:00 via Zoom @ bit.ly/WURMPFocusGroup2
- Wednesday, May 24th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Grand Center in Moab.
NEWS
- City Water Expert Seeks Public Input. Ashley Bunton for The Times-Independent.
- Aquifer uncertainties vex Moab City Council. By Ashley Bunton for Moab Times Independent.
- A snapshot of Moab's water issues. By Alison Harford for Moab Sun News.
- How to land the plane safely. By Sophia Fisher for Moab Times Independent.
OPINION
- Sharing the sandbox. Kiley Miller for Moab Times-Independent.
- Democracy in an era of water scarcity. Rani Derasary for Moab Times-Independent.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
- May 04, 2023 - Living Rivers. John Weisheit, Conservation Director.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
-
December 14, 2022 - First WURMP focus meeting via webinar. YouTube. Data Sheets.pdf
- February 21, 2023 - Joint City and County Meeting. Understanding Groundwater in Spanish Valley. YouTube.
- March 21, 2023 - Grand County Commission. Grand County's Water Rights by Laurel Hagen. YouTube.
- April 25, 2023 - City Council WURMP Workshop. YouTube.
Criteria for a resource management plan. Utah Division of Water Resources
GOVERNANCE AND CONTRACTOR
- Legislative authority is: City of Moab, Grand County, & San Juan County.
- Water Utility Purveyors: City of Moab, Grand Water & Sewer Service Agency, San Juan Spanish Valley Special Service District and Moab irrigation Company.
- City Engineer for City of Moab - Chuck Williams <eMail>.
- Hans, Allen and Luce; contractor to develop this management plan - Ben Miner <eMail>, Katie Jacobson (801-566-5599), Dan Jones.
- Logan Simpson Design - Sophie Frankenburg <eMail> is public engagement contractor; Jim Carter <eMail>.
- Sunrise Engineering - (800-560-6151) Devan Shields.
DATA AND REFERENCES
- 2019 - Moab Water Facts. pdf.
- 2022 - First WURMP webinar data sheets. pdf.
Formative Documents for the water Resource Management Plan
- 2022 - Memorandum of Understanding to Develop Water Utility Resource Management Plan.
- 2022 - Water Utility Resource Management Plan Scope of Work and Proposal.
- 2022 - Approval of MOU to Develop Water Utility Resource Management Plan: Agenda and Summary.
UTAH CODE
73-5-15. Groundwater management plan (view statute)
- Safe Yield: Should the local goverments exceed the safe yield requirement for the aquifers of Moab-Spanish Valley, then regulating authority will be transferred to the State Engineer.
QUESTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
- Matheson Wetlands: What is the brine layer doing and where is it going?
- Hwy 191 Springs: Is the quantity decreasing and is the quality degrading?
- Floods: Rain on snow, upstream dam failures, maximum precipitation events, monsoon cloudbursts, atmospheric rivers, sheet rain, development hardened landscapes. Colorado River, Mill Creek, Pack Creek; independently or all at sources of stream flow at the same time?
- Mill Creek: It waters the shade trees and provides riparian habitat, and recharges the vslley fill aquifer aquifer, which weighs down upon on the brine layer effectively. Is this free ecological service important to our community, or not?
- Sewer Service expansion will be required and preferably the facility will not be in the 500-year floodplain of the Colorado River, or the tributaries of Mill Creek and/or Pack Creek.
- Transportation corridor is already congested and unsafe.

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