Utah15

The State of Utah spends $90,000 a day ($22 million a year) on water paperwork. The water paperwork costs are skyrocketing. Consolidating the Division of Water Rights, Division of Water Resources, and Division of Drinking Water plus some common sense will save the State $11 million a year. In the past 25 years, the State of Utah spent $400 million on water paperwork. In the next 25 years, the State will spend another $600 million. We can't drink that $1 Billion in water paperwork. Wet water is far better than water paperwork. Smaller and lighter water right regulation processes should replace big outdated and heavy processes. Water conservation must include conserving water management dollars through wiser water policies.

In 1930, 1 farmer produced the food for 4 people. In 1970, 1 farmer produced food for 73 people. In 2019, 1 farmer produces the food for 155 people. So why does conservative Utah treat its hardworking farmers so unfairly? Because Utah's Water Cartel has mislead the Governor's Office, Legislature and Courts. The Water Cartel sits on the Water Task Force which has been re-writing Utah's water laws against farmers and for Public Water Providers. Without farmers there would be no cities. So what's the fix? To treat Public Food Providers (farmers) as equals to Public Water Providers, because food is as critical to life as water. The legislative fix is simple by including irrigation companies and farmers as Public Water Suppliers by definition and "irrigation" as a type of water supplied a Public Water Suppliers. Also, simply state in Title 73 (the Water code) that farmers and irrigation company shall enjoy all and every right equally to the use of water as a Public Water Supplier. "73-1-4(1)(b) "Public water supplier" means an entity that: (i) supplies water, directly or indirectly, to the public for municipal, domestic, [add "irrigation'"] or industrial use. In 54-2-1(36) (b) "Water system" does [delete "not"] not include private irrigation companies engaged in distributing water only to their stockholders." If a farmer saves water, the State Engineer takes it away and gives it to the Water Cartel and the Federal Government. If the Water Cartel and Federal Government save water, the State Engineer lets them keep it which they sell for more money. If a farmer turns a share of Provo Reservoir for development into Pleasant Grove, he gets a 6 acre-feet credit, into American Fork, he gets 5 acre-feet credit, into Highland, he gets 4 acre-feet credit, into Lehi, he gets 3.5 acre-feet credit. When the Cartel uses a Provo Res share they get more than 6 acre-feet of water. A Utah County farmer with the same soil, same crop, same seed, same elevation, and same number of growing days gets 25% less water from the State Engineer than a Salt Lake County farmer. Both farmers are in the same water basin. Utah, the conservative North Star of the West, is further Left on water policy than San Francisco. Senior water rights owned by farmers are under attack by Federal junior water rights and the Utah Division of Water Rights. After the 2008 HB51 (Senator Dayton and Representative Patrick Painter water bill), the State lost control of Utah's water to the water cartel - the Big 9 Water Buffaloes who are - US Bureau of Reclamation, Central Utah Water Dist, SLC, Metro SLC & Sandy Water Dist, Sandy, Provo River Water Dist, Jordan Valley Water Dist, Weber Basin Water Dist, Washington County Water District. Utah's biggest water buffalo myth - Utah's running out of water. Of the 60 million acre-feet (af) of water Utah gets annually from precipitation, 1 million af is used by all Utah's 246 cities and 5 million acre-feet by all Utah's farmers. In other words, Utah deplete 5% of its annual precipitation and diverts 10% of its annual precipitation. We have a water management shortage not a water shortage. Of the 6 million diverted, 25% leaks from city water lines and canals before being beneficially used. Utah leaks 1.5 million acre-feet of water enough for 4 million new people.

Salt Lake City cuts your access to water using water monopoly and Utah Code 10-8-14. The Forest Service cuts your road access turning your road into a commercial ski run. Salt Lake County Health cuts your sewer access. Alta changes your zoning on your recorded lot. To crush a few targeted cabin lot owners while they promote double bike lanes up the canyon, trains, trams, a new 160 acre commercial core, public land trades, and turning the canyon into Disney Land for more money for their salaries. In Alta, Utah, you can't fence your property, can't drive on a State or Forest Service road without a town permit, can't connect to a town water line 10 feet from you lot, can't picnic with a fire, can't sleep on your property unless you have a house, can't have a dog unless your one of the lucky 42 dog permittees. Residents and tourists are denied the health and companion benefits of dogs "to protect the Little Cottonwood Creek water (200 TDS)" which is co-mingled with Provo River (600 TDS dog water) 1 to 4 prior to treatment at SLC's Metro plant. There is no science, health, welfare, or public safety basis for SLC's anti-dog policy in Little Cottonwood Canyon or its 10-8-15 overreach, because - Little Cottonwood Creek water is co-mingled (blended) with Provo River Water by Metro Salt Lake & Sandy 25% creek and 75% river to produce safe, high cost $300+ per acre-foot drinking water. Compare that to Jordan Valley Water Conservation District using 100% Provo River Dog Water producing safe, low cost drinking water at $48 per acre-foot. Alta uses C- State Road funds to maintain the State's famous Wild Flower Roads in the Albion Basin while claiming these roads are not State or city roads, but Forest Service roads. Salt Lake City Took My Town of Alta Building Permit Using Utah Code 10-8-15. That's some overreach. 10-8-15 grants First Class Cities like SLC, Sandy, and Provo, ridge to ridge extraterritorial watershed police jurisdiction over millions of acres instead of standard watershed jurisdiction of 1,100 acres. Salt Lake City uses this 10-8-15 to arbitrarily control the Town of Alta. The Alta insiders willingly capitulate to SLC politics, because they don't want competition to their ongoing Alta business concerns. Small Alta landowners are squeezed off their land while tens of thousands of tourists are poured onto their land. Alta Resident Guy Jordan sued and removed Steve Gilman, a Cottonwood Heights resident, sitting on the Town of Alta Council. Case No. 100921207. Alta Resident Guy Jordan sued to remove Tom Pollard as Town of Alta's Mayor for being a Sandy City resident Civil No. 130907973. Unreasonable, Arbitrary and Capricious First Class City Watershed jurisdiction (City Police Powers Outside City Limits) under Utah Code 10-8-15 is used to take private rights without the payment of just compensation. Alta land receiving 120 inches of annual precipitation is declared "dry" by SLC under Utah Code 10-8-15, a watershed regulation. The TOA Company (Alta) with less people than an apartment complex, and less houses than an HOA, with no traffic light, but "collects" $1.6 million in taxes and fees. 20% of all town taxes and fees go to 4 people - the town manager, his assistant, the town clerk and her assistant.

A better Water Policy is a better Energy Policy - Utah's Silicon Slopes need every house in Utah should produce enough electricity for itself and 2 electric cars (Net-Zero Energy) saving enough as much water as it uses (Net-Zero Water) . . . making a vibrant Utah. Power Plants withdrawal more fresh water than farms. Depending on the Power Plant, it takes 11 to 27 gallons to generate a kilowatt (KWh) - A monthly $200 power bill is about 1,600 KWh representing 17,000 to 43,000 gallons of water. Who knew the water used to generate electricity for a house can be more than the water used by the house (indoor and outdoor use combined)? “Who knew that, besides adding to the monthly electric bill, keeping a single 60-watt light bulb lit for 12 hours uses as much as 60 liters of water?” - Union of Concerned Scientists. May 21, 2016

Utah Leaks 15 Deer Creeks or $34 Billion in Water Enough for 4 Million New People. Utah’s Deer Creek Reservoir has an operational capacity of 32 billion gallons of water. All Utah’s 246 cities use 325 billion gallons or 10 Deer Creeks. All Utah Farms use 1,600 billion gallons or 50 Deer Creeks. Surveyed City water lines leak range from 3.5% to 35%. Farm canals leak up to 33%. On average, Utah leaks 25% of its water (500 billion gallons or 15 Deer Creeks or 17 Lake Powell Pipelines). For context, Salt Lake City itself uses 16 billion gallons or ½ a Deer Creek, sells 8 billion gallons or 1/4 of a Deer Creek as “surplus” for $25 million, and leaks 2 billion gallons annually. Who knew Utah leaks enough water for 21 new cities the size our great Salt Lake City? Put in terms of Lake Powell Pipeline dollars ($20,000 per acre-foot of developed water), Utah is leaking $30 Billion in water. Millions are spent on water shaming the public for a dripping facet will slogans like “Slow the Flow” while city water lines leak billions of gallons. Spending billions to develop new water to put into city pipes and irrigation canals leaking 25% of their water makes no sense. Why isn’t the State Water Engineer collecting existing water leak data from cities on its annual Water Use Data From? Why isn’t the State Water Engineer collecting existing indoor water use data form Utah’s 1 million water meters for free instead of asking for $5 million to “study water use”? This Public Record’s data is free for the asking. Please Call the Governor’s Office at 801-538-100. Please ask our State Water Engineer to collected leak and existing use data from cities and water companies. Please reduce the city and canal water leaks before putting new billion dollar Lake Powell and Bear River water into systems leaking 25% of their water.

"We're learning about very resistant pathogens in water. They are very difficult to kill so you need strong disinfectants. These chemicals may ultimately cause cancer over a lifetime. So the question becomes, would you rather have diarrhea today, or cancer over a 70-year period?" -Capitol Connection "Making Sure Your Water is Safe!" by Carol Sisco Department of Environmental Quality Public Information Officer Utah with a population of 3 million has drinking water treatment capacity for a population of 9 million, because water treatment plant builders got property taxing authority. 2 of 3 drinking water treatment plants in Utah were built to water lawns. Every city should be required to have a secondary irrigation system to conserve water, reduce water pollution, and increase our water security. Every kitchen tap should be required to deliver pure, non-Chlorinated water.

Utah County Hill Billy Fence Project If this twernt the best dog gone fence in Utahrr County, I’d be slapped silly with corn dogger with honey budda by the chief of pooleze. What we all did was take a brown not green treated 2x4x12 and cut her in two, then jigged up with custom chop saw cutter to dog ear them boys. It’s 3 times thicker than a Cedar slat, and 5 times stronger than a Cedar slat at just twice the cost. Don’t need painting, never needs staining. Won’t rust nor rot. Wasps won’t nest on her. Comes with 3 Z bar gates. We got the deezine from a western movie. The only thing we cheap out on was using nickle dip instead hot dip galvanized fasteners. We use super duper Stanley hinges. Locking mechanism is sure lock board style from a western movie and all topped off with 6 x 6 x 8 feet post guaranteed to a last through the millennium or your money back.

Naturally, the oldest (1876), the richest ($3.7 billion un-regulated utility) and the biggest (Utah's biggest city) would be Utah's biggest water hoarder for political power outside city limits and money. At the front door, Salt Lake City water shames residents with tales of water shortages into paying high water conservation rates, while out the back door , the city sells billions of gallons of "surplus" for millions out the back door to Park City, Heber Valley, Alta, and 4 ski resorts for snow making. Salt Lake City operates a $25 million so-called "surplus" water hoarding business in 3 counties. Park City pays about $300k in SLC water hoarding taxes annually. Heber Valley Utah pays about $1 million in SLC water hoarding taxes annually. Millcreek, and Cottonwood Heights pay millions in SLC a "water hoarding tax" plus pay $45,000 a month to Salt Lake City to buy land in the canyons to add to SLC's 31,000 acre land hoard. Salt Lake City de-waters, despoils and uses pristine creeks as free, unlined ditches. It spends $830,000 annually to operate the Jordan & Salt Lake Canal running Utah Lake water from Draper to Temple Square. 99% of this canal's water runs to waste every year. This environmental injustice has no basis in good public policy. There is no pubic policy basis for Salt Lake City's massive water wasting, water hoarding, or the weaponization of water to devalue private property. Salt Lake City's crumbling water lines leak 2 billion gallons of water while residents are water shamed with "Slow the Flow" and water restrictions. The SLC golf courses die of thirst to intentionally put them out of business while $25 million in "surplus" is sold in 3 counties out the backdoor. Salt Lake City is a great city with a poorly managed water dept double charging for water, tripled staffed, trumpeting "saving the canyons" mantra to distract from poor management, high water rates, and crumbling infrastructure.