Conserve or pay in S. Utah

ST. GEORGE — Loyd Jessop just might have the most difficult job in town right now.

"My goal is to catch every drop of water that I can," said Jessop, operations and maintenance supervisor for the Washington County Water Conservancy District, an entity that manages three major reservoirs in the region.

"I'm hoping we get another storm this weekend and that temperatures stay cool."

Quail Creek Reservoir, a local hot spot for fishing, boating and other water games, is noticeably higher than its dismal lows of 2002, Jessop said.

"It's coming up, on the average right now, a little under a foot of water a day. You'll notice a difference every day out there," he said of the reservoir that is capable of holding just over 40,000 acre-feet.

Any increase in Quail Creek's bottom water line is welcome news since it's currently measuring about 12,000 acre-feet. Levels were drawn down last year to work on the reservoir's dam, Jessop said.

That water was transferred to the county's newest water project Sand Hollow Reservoir through a massive pipeline that allows water to be shipped back to Quail Creek.

Kolob Reservoir, a much smaller lake that sits high in the mountains above Zion National Park, is also expected to refill enough to support fishing and water sports, Jessop said.

Although that's good news for this drought-plagued part of the state, it doesn't mean people can forget the need to conserve, say area water managers.

"The ground has been really dry and the latest storm just moisturized the soil," said Barry Barnum, St. George city's director of water services. "We need four or five more of those storms to give us more runoff. It's going to be really close this summer. It's grim."

Water rates are rising all over the county as city councils try to convince people of the need to use less water. Voluntary water restrictions were imposed in many towns last year and it's a sure bet they'll be back this summer.

The St. George City Council recently voted to increase water rates for all users during the year's peak water use months. The boost in rates will begin in mid-April and last until the end of September, said Barnum.

The tiered rate increase kicks in once a resident uses more than 35,000 gallons of water a month, and goes up from there. Essentially, the more water used, the more it will cost the user, Barnum said.