90 irrigators get Bear River 'no pump' order

Some years Jim Watterson's farm produces four crops of alfalfa. Usually, he says, he settles for three. But when the Utah Division of Water Rights ordered him to stop pumping irrigation water from the Bear River, that probably doomed this year's third crop.

"There may be a little regrowth later, but it's drying out already," said the Benson, Cache County, farmer. "It's going to be quite a hurt to our irrigators along the river."

About 90 Cache Valley farmers must stop pumping Bear River water onto their parched land, under an order issued Monday by the division. That could impact around 11,000 acres, according to Watterson.

If any farmers subject to the order were found disobeying it, the division was prepared to seek a temporary restraining order against them through district court, said Lee Sim, assistant state engineer for water distribution. But after an inspection started Thursday, he said compliance seems good.

This is the first time any water users on the Bear River have been ordered not to take water, Sim added.

The background to the crisis is the ancient law of water distribution, which decrees, "first in time, first in line" for water rights. Utah's six-year drought has reduced water supplies so badly that only Bear River water rights that predate 1889 can be supplied.

A letter addressed "To the Utah Small Irrigators" and signed by state engineer Jerry D. Olds tells the farmers that the division received a letter from Utah Power concerning its delivery of Bear River storage water. The letter was sent to certain farmers using Bear River water who do not have water rights dating to before 1889.

On July 29, the Bear River Canal Co. asked the division to regulate diversions of Bear River's natural flow according to water right priority date, it adds. As of July 27, the natural flow of the Bear was 354 cubic feet per second.

"At this flow rate, the latest water right priority date that can be delivered (from) Bear River natural flow water is 1889," the letter adds.

In a bold-face sentence, the letter tells the recipients, "If you are continuing to irrigate with water diverted from the Bear River, you are hereby notified that your water right is out of priority and that you must immediately cease diverting and using water from the Bear River."

"It's just unfortunate and it's a result of the continued drought that we're experiencing," Olds said. "But as you look at the water supply, there isn't enough there to meet all demands."