Utah exploring how to fill water needs

Utah is going to need millions upon millions of gallons of water to satisfy the thirst of a growing population, estimated to explode by more than 3 million residents in 45 years.

"Today, we have about 1.3 million acre feet of water to meet municipal and industrial needs," Division of Water Resources director Larry Anderson said Monday. "If the population grows as projected, we would need 2.2 million acre feet of water."

On paper, that means the state needs to find more than 845,000 acre feet of water to serve an estimated population of 5.4 million, Anderson told the State Water Development Commission.

State engineers and water resource experts are working with municipal and water conservancy experts on a plan to find that water, Anderson said.

The plan includes tapping additional groundwater, increasing the size of water treatment plants, conservation — Utah residents have reduced their per-capita use from 321 gallons per day to 267 gallons per day in the past 10 years — and by converting water presently designed for agricultural use for municipal and industrial uses.

Most of that agricultural water conversion will come through the projected loss of about 10 percent of Utah's agricultural land to municipal uses, Anderson said.

Also on the drawing board are two water development projects: the Bear River project and the Lake Powell pipeline.

The Bear River project will bring water from the Utah-Idaho border to Willard Bay for storage and use by communities in Weber, Davis and Salt Lake counties. It likely will require the construction of a reservoir, although an exact location has not been determined, Anderson said.

The Lake Powell pipeline will pump water through a 66-inch pipeline from the lake, through northern Arizona and back into Utah near Hildale for storage in Sand Hollow Reservoir near St. George. There is a possibility that project could be extended to Cedar City.

The areas make sense, Anderson explained to the committee of lawmakers and municipal water district and conservancy officials, because they both have large amounts of unused water and are relatively close to the population centers — the Wasatch Front and Washington County — that have the most pressing water needs.

Both projects come with huge price tags, Anderson said.

The Bear River project cost estimates range between $260 million and $500 million. The Lake Powell pipeline could cost between $340 million and $450 million.