American Fork looking for water

AMERICAN FORK — American Fork officials are inching closer to deciding what to do about the future of American Fork's water system — but are still wrestling with a number of options before making any final decisions.

Booming growth in the residential and commercial sectors in recent years has placed increased demand on the city's finite water supply. The City Council, which has been working on a solution, met this week to discuss other options.

Employees say the current water system can handle the present demand — as long as the area gets enough precipitation.

Any unseen developments could spell disaster, however.

"If this had been another year like 2002," city engineer Howard Denney said, "we would have been rationing."

Not only was 2002 dry as a bone, but all three of the city's wells were put out of commission for various reasons at one time or another.

Now, city government officials are trying to find an appropriate short-term solution to shore up the system while long-term solutions are put in place.

But the challenge with choosing a short-term solution, council members said, is choosing one that will not only be affordable, but be more than a temporary stop gap.

"I'm not interested in Band-Aid," Councilman Jimmie Cates said. "If we're going to spend some money here, it should be moving in the direction of a long-term solution"

For the short term, there are essentially two options on the table, both regarding an inactive well on 600 East near 700 North. The well has been inactive because it pumps too much sand with the water and poses stoppage problems.

City engineers said the well can be reactivated for roughly $60,000. It would still pump a lot of sand but would be an acceptable backup in case of an emergency.

However, engineers said, it would be better to re-drill the well and eliminate the sand problem altogether.

The price tag would be about $800,000, but engineers said the improved well could be used permanently and play a role in the city's long-term plans.

Whatever the city decides to do for now, however, the issue will ultimately require a much larger investment than a new well.

Meeting city's needs — the city grew from 21,941 in 2000 to an estimated 22,387 in 2004 — would likely require the installation of a secondary water system, according to the council