April 2020 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Friends,
How could we have imagined the situation that occupies so much of our time, COVID-19! Our lives are certainly up in the air and may be so for some time. Schedules have been completely modified and our familiarity with numerous video and telephonic conferencing services has been perfected! As I coordinate with sister agencies, I am very impressed with the coordination that is occurring, the planning that is and has been done, and the quiet confidence that is expressed in our collective ability to keep the water flowing. As you all know so well, the talented folks in the water business are very accustomed to handling variety and variability. Conditions with which we deal are always moving targets and we are prepared for these uncertain scenarios resulting from the virus.

As I reflect upon my personal feelings, my mind goes back to situations like Y2K, 9/11, and H1N1. The uncertainty surrounding those events seems similar to what I feel today. There is a level of concern, yet a confidence that we will make it through. Looking back, we recognize we made it over some pretty big bumps in the road and I have confidence we will look back on this in a similar way. It has been fascinating to observe the reaction by the public regarding water. Shelves of bottled water have been emptied and water has been stashed in every nook and cranny of homes and basements across the country. Much of which will likely be forgotten before it will ever be used. It has been gratifying to listen to civic and governmental leaders reaffirm the safety of the public water supply and recognize the efforts of many who provide this safe and reliable resource. How grateful I am to be part of this professional and competent water family. My plea is that we will continue to be wise as we work through this bump in the road. That we will continue to share information and resources to help and support one another as we work our way to a successful conclusion to this current challenge. Fortunately, we have a decent snowpack! Let it rain! Gene

WATER OUTLOOK

By Jordan Clayton

After a quiet February, Utah has recently been receiving some nice storms, and as of March 24th the statewide snow water equivalent (SWE) is 103% of normal. There are only 10 days to go until the typical peak accumulation, so the likelihood of having either an outstanding or a dismal snow year are rapidly diminishing; at this point all signs point to Utah’s snowpack ending up pretty close to average. As always, there are regional differences: currently, the Southwestern Utah, Southeastern Utah, Northeastern Uintas, and Escalante watersheds are above 110% of normal SWE, and all other basins are close to average. With a significant winter storm approaching northern Utah, it’s likely that these basin numbers will improve by April 1st.

The individual SNOTEL sites with the most SWE right now are Snowbird (40.8”), Tony Grove Lake (36.1”), Farmington (28.3”), and Lookout Peak (28.2”), with Ben Lomond Peak, Monte Cristo, Midway Valley, Kolob, Mill-D North, USU Doc Daniel, Franklin Basin, and numerous others not far behind. In terms of percent normal, the leading SNOTEL sites are (ordered from most to least current SWE, with associated basins in parentheses): Dry Fork at 152% (ProvoJordan), Webster Flat at 140% (SW Utah), Gardner Peak at 142% (SW Utah), East Willow Creek at 154% (SE Utah), Hickerson Park at 151% (NE Uintas), Hole-in-Rock at 158% (NE Uintas), Harris Flat at 224% (Upper Sevier), Agua Canyon at 192% (Upper Sevier), and Long Flat at 172% (SW Utah). Note that these last few sites have already been melting out, so their percent normal values are based on low overall SWE. The close-to-average SWE values at Utah’s SNOTEL sites is good news because co-located soil moisture values remain below average. The dry soils are reducing the predicted runoff amounts to around average or below. New forecasts will be available at the beginning of April and will be included in the NRCS Snow Survey’s “Water Supply Outlook Report”. Regarding that report, in light of agency guidance amid ongoing concerns related to COVID-19, manual measurements obtained during the April 1 survey will be limited to essential snow courses. At this time, we do not anticipate this affecting any of our streamflow forecasts, but the situation is evolving daily. For questions or follow-up, please contact me at jordan.clayton@usda.gov.

National Weather Service Report

By Brian McInerney

This year has been a tale of 3 distinct weather patterns that have shaped our world since early 2020 water year. We began with a fabulous series of Atmospheric Rivers that roared through Southern Utah, sweeping up into the southern aspect of the Uintas and hitting all points in between. In actuality, there were two major events that brought snowpack in the south from essentially zero to 200% of normal. From November 22nd through Christmas, the Virgin River Basin received upwards of 8″ of SWE. This in an area that receives an average of 11″ of SWE annually. Unfortunately, for the south, the pattern then shifted to that of a northwest flow, benefitting northern Utah. This pattern emanates out of Alaska and places the jet stream directly over Northern Utah. At this time in January, Northern Utah saw the benefits of this dramatic shift and the snow started piling up. Unfortunately, right around February, the Jet shifted farther north and all of Utah was shut out for the most part. We had a bit of high pressure ridging during the month, but fortunately for us, temperatures remained near normal or a bit chilly. Good news for the snowpack. Now as we’re moving through March, we find that the south once again is reaping the benefits of storm systems moving through southern California and into south and central Utah. As of this writing, it’s snowing outside and more is expected on the way. All in all, it’s been a pretty good water year and we’ll take it. Now we’ll see if can keep the flow moving and keep the stubborn high pressure out of the western US. If we can do that, the runoff picture will look not too shabby indeed.

WATER & THE LAW – HB105

By David B. Hartvigsen
Smith Hartvigsen, PLLC

A low profile, but very significant, piece of water legislation is sitting on the Governor’s desk awaiting his final action. House Bill 105, entitled Water Facilities Amendments, was sponsored by Rep. Logan Wilde and Sen. Jani Iwamoto. The impetus for this bill was the lack of any statutory prohibition against unauthorized connections to water systems. UCA 73-1-14 currently prohibits only “unlawful” conduct with respect to a few specifically itemized water facilities and the “unlawful” interference with water apportionment officials.

House Bill 105 significantly expands the protections provided to owners and operators of water facilities under this statute and adds the missing prohibition against unauthorized connections. It expands the scope of the facilities protected by statute to include all facilities “used for the diversion, transportation, distribution, measurement, collection or storage of water, stormwater, wastewater, or sewage.” This expanded definition should cover all water facilities, instead of just a select few, thereby benefitting every water system of any type in the state.

These protections are now divided into three separate scenarios, each with its own standard of criminal conduct. The bill prohibits a person from: (1) “maliciously” interfering with, damaging, destroying, or removing a water facility; (2) “intentionally or knowingly” making an unauthorized connection to water facility; and (3) “unlawfully” interfering with a water apportionment official in his or her authorized duties. If a person violates this statute, he or she is guilty of a crime punishable under UCA 73-2-27 and a civil suit may also be pursued against the violator.

In addition, this bill applies the same expanded definition of “water facility” to another statute, UCA 73-1-15, which currently only prohibits obstructing or changing the water flow along, across, or in a canal or water course. If this bill becomes law, a person will be prohibited from placing any obstruction along, across, in, or to any water facility and from changing the water flow of any water facility without the prior written permission of the owner of the facility. Violators of this statute are subject to the same criminal and civil liability mentioned above.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS CORNER

By Carly Burton

Workshop Postponed

Man, who would have thought this past January that we would have to postpone the Utah Water Users Workshop which had been scheduled for March 16-18. Governor Herbert, in his press release of March 12, asked that gatherings of more than 250 be cancelled. One of the important factors in contacting everyone (everyone being about 900 registrants, speakers, co-sponsors and vendors) was in the registration form where we requested participants to include their email address. Fortunately Utah State Conference Services was able to contact everyone who listed their e-mail address which ended up being about 98% of all participants. We are hopeful that we can reschedule the Workshop to sometime in July, possible July 6-8 but that remains a big uncertainty at this time. We are asking for your patience for a month or two to see what happens.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The legislature wrapped up it’s 2020 session just in the nick of time before the dreaded virus stopped everything cold in its tracks. Here is a summary of bills that we tracked through the session:

Bills that passed and that we supported included HB 28, 39, 40, 41, 94, 95, 96, 105, 130, 166, 168, 226, 237, 328, HJR-3, SB 26, 51and 52.

Bills that did not pass and that we opposed included HB 156, 266, 331, SB 52 and SB 84.

In view of the bills passed and bills that did not pass I am happy to say that we had a very successful experience at the Legislature this year.

BRIAN MCINERNEY RETIRING

Brian McInerney, with the National Weather Service, announced his retirement, effective on April 1, 2020. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Brian for his many years of dedicated service and his professionalism over so many years of providing vital information on water supply and weather events to the water community. He will be missed by the many friends and colleagues that he has made over the years. Good luck Brian, and keep skiing.