Traditionally, cities paid for blocks of water under so-called "take or pay" contracts, meaning they paid for a block of water whether they used it all or not.

That all changes in April, when municipalities begin paying only for the water they use, and a new $4,300 water impact fee is charged by the county on all new recorded lots.

"In the past, the district promoted water conservation, people reduced their water usage and the cities had the same bill to us whether the water was used or not," Hjelle said. "Now we are in harmony with one another. If we promote water conservation and their people use less, they pay less."

For people like Merritt Frey, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, that is good news. Frey is concerned about St. George's high per-capita water use.

At 391 gallons, St. George residents consume more water per capita on a daily basis than people in Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Phoenix, according to a 2005 study by the U. bureau.

"No matter what you might think about different proposed projects, the first order of business down there has got to be water conservation and lowering the per-capita water use," Frey said. "Especially when you think about every person you add at a higher per-capita water use, there's just a multiplier effect there. If they can start to bring that down now, they can really stretch their existing supply." Frey added that it is important that the Lake Powell pipeline, at a cost of $370 million for the Washington County portion, is paid through user fees.

"As this area is booming and people are increasing their property values by 35 percent a year, the cost of that development should really be reflected in water bills, rather than subsidized through taxes," Frey said. "People will argue that there is statewide benefit at some level to this work, but what we've really seen in studies is that if that cost is not reflected in water bills, we see water waste. When the cost is incorporated, people are motivated to conserve."

Alder said the county's relatively inexpensive water has sent an anti-conservation message.

"We haven't had to conserve, but all this growth is totally dependent upon water," Alder said. "We will never have a surplus."

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E-mail: danderton@desnews.com