Utah water war mired in politics

More than a century ago, pioneer settlers in Cache Valley's Wellsville and Hyrum resolved a water-rights dispute by throwing rotten vegetables at each other.

Other Utah water conflicts were not resolved so amicably.

In fact, Utahns have been fighting over water — and how scarce amounts of it are used — for more than 150 years, and those fights have shaped not only the communities within the nation's second-most arid state but the political landscape where those who control water also control the state's socioeconomic destiny.

"Water is one of the most political and most volatile issues in the West," says Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who found Utah to be no different after recently trying and failing to prompt a fundamental re-evaluation of the state's water policy.

What started as a common-sense approach to promoting water conservation — water customers actually paying for the water they use, rather than having water rates subsidized by property taxes — evolved into an all-out water war on Capitol Hill. Stephenson quickly found himself battling an army of water lobbyists, water districts and the Utah Farm Bureau.

Under withering pressure, Stephenson dropped plans to revamp water taxation policy, instead asking only that a task force look at the complicated issues. The bill authorizing the task force never made it out of committee.

"There are so many people who feel their ox might be gored by even an examination" of issues surrounding water rates and conservation, he said, acknowledging his idea was plagued by rumors and innuendo.

"Sometimes irrational fears have a greater effect on the outcome of legislation than the rational ones," he said.

So entrenched is the water lobby that Stephenson is still pondering whether to resurrect his idea next year. Why should he bother when it seems Utah's political establishment seems vigorously opposed to any discussion of water conservation?

Entering the fourth year of a drought and amid falling reservoir levels, more and more Utah water officials are urging conservation. Some cities and towns are talking about bans on watering lawns during daytime hours; bleak rainfall forecasts portend dire economic consequences for farmers.

But critics say it is all just talk, pointing out that water officials at every level have steadfastly refused all efforts to rethink traditional water management practices.