Water district wins ruling over Crescent Lakes lots

ROOSEVELT — Eighth District Judge John R. Anderson has ruled that the Central Utah Water Conservancy District did nothing improper in condemning 107 lots in the Crescent Lakes subdivision. The property had to be vacated in order to create a buffer zone around the reservoir that will supply municipal water to Roosevelt city in the future.

The CUWCD was responsible for construction of the reservoir expansion project, along with acquiring property necessary in the enlargement, by negotiation or condemnation. Sandwash Reservoir is located 10 miles northwest of Roosevelt.

In a 38-page ruling Anderson found the actions of the water conservancy district were "in the greatest public good, with the least amount of private injury." He wrote that contrary to property owners' claims that the district acted arbitrarily and capriciously, it took far less land around the reservoir than it could have. The vast majority of the Crescent Lakes lots were "completely or partially below the 5,926-foot elevation" of the dam.

"The court concludes that the district acted well within its authority and discretion in determining to condemn all the properties in the Crescent Lakes subdivision, and in fact, had good reasons for doing so," Anderson wrote, in denying all eight of the defenses submitted by property owners.

The court did uphold the property owners' claim "for greater just compensation." The issue of compensation for their property must still be worked out through litigation.

Buffer zones are routinely established around bodies of water to protect land and water from contamination, and to determine appropriate recreation and points of access, the ruling stated.

When Strawberry Reservoir was enlarged in the mid-1970s the Department of Interior created a buffer zone that extends for miles in every direction. To accommodate the buffer zone, "shanty villages" that had grown up around the edge of the reservoir, causing pollution and trash, were razed. The department also canceled grazing leases and concessionaire contracts.

In determining the buffer zone for Sandwash Reservoir, the CUWCD chose the 5,926-foot elevation as the boundary line for the enlargement project "to lessen the effect on property owners," the judge stated in his decision, backing the actions of the district.