Am. Fork given a warning on water

AMERICAN FORK — A new study warns American Fork leaders they need to either stop further development in the city or find more water.

"American Fork city has now fully utilized its source capacity to supply water to new users and needs to immediately develop new water supplies to meet the demands of growth," said the Horrocks Engineers study.

With the city on the verge of annexing 600 acres on the south side of town — which could eventually bring 1,800 homes and 5,500 more people to the town of approximately 23,000 — officials have dismissed the notion of halting growth and are pulling out a divining rod to explore the city's options.

Four options are currently on the table:

• Installing a pressurized irrigation system.

• Building a water treatment plant.

• Drilling more wells.

• Stepping up conservation practices.

While there is a sense of urgency — grant applications for any major water project must be submitted to the state in March 2006 — City Council members say they will not rush a decision.

"There is a sense of urgency but not to the point of being pressed into making a decision and making a mistake," Councilman Jimmie Cates said.

American Fork compiled a water master plan in 1998, projecting the city would have sufficient water to sustain projected growth through 2020.

The new report points out, however, those projections did not anticipate the commercial explosion the city has experienced in recent years. It also did not anticipate additional park space, which the city plans to increase by 25 acres next year.

But the bigger problem, the report said, was the drought in 2002 and 2003 that attacked on two fronts — lowering the city's water table while increasing demand on the strained system.

The city's increased water usage came primarily from commercial users, which were not only more numerous than projected but also used more water than expected.

The report says American Fork is "borderline" on meeting its legal water supply requirements for the next year. And while favorable weather conditions would allow the current supply to stretch for as much as two years, renewed drought conditions or water pump failures would require the city to resort to rationing.