Measures aid trout, sewage facilities

Bills allowing acquisition of in-stream water flows to help sewage plants and to benefit rare trout were endorsed Thursday by the Legislature's joint Water Quality Task Force.

The first bill squeaked by with approval of the Senate component of the task force while the House members tied.

Rep. Ben C. Ferry, R-Corinne, said water treatment plants wanted in-stream flows because that would allow dilution of effluent, rather than control water quality through more diligent treatment.

"My opinion is dilution is not the solution to pollution," he said. The problem results from "poor planning," he said.

The mixing zone would be strictly limited, under the law, and the bill would allow only temporary leasing of water rights. There would be more water available below the plant than before, according to backers.

In-stream flows — measured by the volume of water flowing past a particular area in a given period of time — are a use wherein the in which flows are not removed from the waterway, according to the Water Encyclopedia.

The trout bill was okayed overwhelmingly. Still, it didn't slide through without controversy.

During the roll-call vote on the trout bill, the newly appointed Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan (replacing Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch), passed on the measure. Rep. David Ure, R-Kamas, said when his name was called, "Dammit, no. It still hasn't got me."

He was referring to the amendments that had been crafted to make the bill palatable to competing interests. It is to be temporary, reviewed in 10 years if not scuttled by another legislature before; leased rights can't impinge on water rights of others; only actual consumptive uses count, which doesn't include water not used by the owner; in-stream rights can be bought only by groups promoting fishing.

Timothy Hawkes of Trout Unlimited was the bill's main architect, and he had ushered it through many amendments. In the end, the Utah Water Coalition and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were on board. However, coalition members of the Utah Farm Bureau were not counted in that because the bureau was still working out its policy positions.

After the task force approved the bill, Ure said, "Congratulations, Mr. Hawkes. You have worked very hard and very diligently in trying to take care of all the problems."