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Committee to develop a Water Utility Resource Management Plan Moab & Spanish Valley, Utah

January 01, 2023
by John S. Weisheit

WATER UTILTIY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN (WURMP)
Moab & Spanish Valley

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

OPINION

PUBLIC COMMENTS
  • May 04, 2023 - Living Rivers. John Weisheit, Conservation Director.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

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


Formative Documents for the water Resource Management Plan


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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