After decades of pumping water to feed thirsty crops, farmers in Utah's southwestern Escalante Valley are the focus of a controversial state-sponsored effort to force water conservation by imposing a groundwater management plan.

"This is a serious matter and we're committed to work with the people to find a resolution," said State Engineer Jerry Olds with the Utah Division of Water Rights, following a public meeting on the issue in Enterprise on Monday. "The Legislature has indicated it wants Utah to manage its groundwater. It's a sensitive issue. I know that."

In a 2000 study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, Utah Division of Water Rights and the Utah Division of Water Resources, researchers noted 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 region for a first-hand look at several sinkholes that occurred because of the lowering water table. The following year, the Legislature enacted Utah Code 73-5-15, which calls for the regulation of groundwater withdrawals through the adoption of a groundwater management plan.

At Monday's public meeting, Olds reviewed four possible scenarios to manage the region's groundwater. The scenarios varied from reducing water use by a prioritized, set amount until levels were stabilized, to replacing high-water crops such as alfalfa with less thirsty crops such as corn and potatoes.

A fifth plan developed by the Escalante Valley Water Users Association would reduce the amount of acreage farmed over time by 10 percent and would cut the amount of water pumped by another 20 percent. Farmers would also be compensated for taking land out of production and for reducing the amount of water they are legally entitled to use.

"We've worked hard to develop a win-win plan," said LaDel Laub, a member of the water users association. "In Jerry's mind, our plan does not go far enough. I frankly think that Jerry is interpreting the statute a little narrowly."

More than 50 farmers working the ground in Escalante Valley produce more than $100 million in agriculture products each year, said Laub.

"We have more interest in protecting the aquifer here than anyone else," he said. "It's our future. We're talking about an economy that could be destroyed."

Olds said he is open to any suggestion that would help move the project forward.

"We are trying to stimulate thought and debate within the community, and we want to seek some options on a range of things," Olds said. "This issue of mining groundwater isn't isolated to Escalante Valley. It's happening in several other places around the state."

To learn more about the Beryl/Escalante groundwater management plan go online to waterrights.utah.gov. Comments will be accepted through Sept. 30.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com