Farmers fighting for water rights

Water rights in southwestern Utah's Escalante Valley are a precious commodity, and farmers there are worried that a state-mandated plan may dilute those rights, after sinkholes were found in the area because of groundwater use.

The farmers want to be compensated if those rights are decreased in any way, according to a spokesman for the area's water users. As they have for many decades, farmers who own the water rights in the valley pump water from deep wells to irrigate thousands of acres of alfalfa, potatoes and other crops.

"Water users here feel that the state invited their investments by issuing the water rights," said Karl Schmutz, water commissioner for the Beryl/Escalante Water Distribution System that delivers water to 56 users with water rights in the Escalante Valley. "If water rights are cancelled, that's someone's livelihood."

The first proposal the state came up with was to cut the water rights by 40 percent, he added. "The economic impact of that would be devastating. Ninety to 95 percent of the economics in this valley is agriculture."

The Utah State Legislature last year enacted a law that mandates the restriction of groundwater withdrawals to a "safe yield" if an aquifer is being overused. To do that, the law requires the state Division of Water Resources to develop a groundwater management plan that would protect water quality and an aquifer's physical integrity, according to a department news release.

The Utah Division of Water Resources has scheduled a public hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Enterprise High School to discuss development of a groundwater management plan for the Beryl/Enterprise area.

"We'll be talking about what a groundwater management plan is and the process of developing one," said James Greer, an engineer with the Utah Division of Water Rights, who will present hydrologic data and other study results at the public hearing. "We're kind of just getting our feet wet with this legislation."

Greer said about 1,600 letters were mailed to groundwater-rights holders in the valley to alert them about the meeting. Utah State Engineer Jerry Olds said public participation in the development and adoption of a groundwater plan is an important component of the process.

"This should be an open process, with the involvement of all concerned parties," Olds said in a news release.

A joint study of the U.S. Geological Survey, Utah Division of Water Rights, and the Utah Division of Water Resources in 2000 cited a long-term decline in the groundwater levels of the Beryl/Enterprise area. According to the report, water users were pumping more water out of the ground than the wells could naturally replace. The overdraft meant water levels were dropping by about 1.2 feet each year.

In 2005, a state task force on groundwater management toured the Beryl/Enterprise region for a first-hand look at several sinkholes or depressions that occurred because of the lowering water table. The following legislative session, Utah Code 73-5-15 was enacted and called for the regulation of groundwater withdrawals through the adoption of a groundwater management plan.

"If they start canceling people's water rights without compensation, it would all end up in court," said Schmutz, who has served as the local water commissioner for six years. "Farmers would prefer that nothing be done at this point, but if anything is done, then they feel that they should be compensated."

Six years ago, 10 percent of the water-rights users were out of compliance or using more than they were legally allowed, he said.

"Today that is down to 10 percent of 1 percent," he said. "That's a significant difference."

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com