Wasatch H20 study has good, bad news

The good news: For the most part, the Wasatch Front has plenty of good drinking water.

The bad news: Increased urbanization is causing underground water supplies to become contaminated with pesticides, what scientists call volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

That's according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey in which trace amounts of pesticides were detected in most groundwater sampled in public wells. The pesticides, however, aren't now considered a health concern.

"In general, the water quality was good," Patrick Lambert, chief of the USGS's Utah District, said Tuesday at a press conference held at Red Butte Garden to unveil the five-year $8 million study. "About 1 mile up the canyon (Red Butte Reservoir) is the best quality of water we saw during the course of the study."

That's not surprising since the undeveloped nature of that watershed, noted Marc Sylvester, assistant regional hydrologist with the USGS's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. "It's the cleanest natural water since there's no urbanization or agriculture use."

In short, the study concluded that a combination of agriculture and urbanization is contaminating more drinking water wells in the Great Salt Lake Basin, which covers much of Utah living along the Wasatch Front and parts of northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming.

The study encompassed three major river systems that discharge into the Great Salt Lake — the Bear River, the Weber River and the Jordan River.

The USGS launched the "National Water-Quality Assessment Program" in 1991 when Congress appropriated money to study 51 major river basins in three study units. The Great Salt Lake Basin is part of the third set of intensive investigations, which began in 1997. The next phase of the study, which will focus on public water systems, is expected to begin in 2007.

All of this is significant to water managers looking for reliable scientific information as they search for ways to provide safe, clean drinking water to a growing population. About 1.5 million more people are expected to live in Utah by 2030.

"I appreciate the information," said Richard Bay, assistant general manager of Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which supplies water to 800,000 people making it the largest municipal water district in Utah. "This growth rate creates a strain and water challenges. By the year 2050, we will have to double our water supply despite water conservation efforts."